KARACHI: Pakistan reported two new polio cases on Thursday, pushing this year’s tally of the infection to 67, the country’s polio eradication program said amid Islamabad’s struggle to contain the spread of the disease. 
Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. The nation’s polio eradication campaign has faced serious problems with a spike in reported cases this year that have prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Pakistan’s National Institute of Health confirmed that two wild poliovirus type 1 cases, one each from Tank in northwestern Pakistan and Kashmore in Sindh were reported on Thursday. 
“Pakistan is responding to the resurgence of WPV1 this year with 67 cases reported so far,” the Polio Eradication Programme said. “Of these, 27 are from Balochistan, 19 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.”
It said that this was the fourth case reported from Tank and second from Kashmore this year.
Pakistani authorities last week conducted a large-scale sub-national polio vaccination campaign in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad, vaccinating over 42 million children. 
The second phase of the campaign is scheduled to begin on Dec. 30, covering Balochistan province. 
Poliovirus, which can cause crippling paralysis particularly in young children, is incurable and remains a threat to human health as long as it has not been eradicated. Immunization campaigns have succeeded in most countries and have come close in Pakistan, but persistent problems remain.
In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994 but efforts to eradicate the virus have since been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from some religious hard-liners, who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies. Militant groups also frequently attack and kill members of polio vaccine teams.

ISLAMABAD: An army major and 13 militants were killed during three separate intelligence-based operations in northwestern Pakistan, the military’s media wing said on Thursday, vowing to eliminate militancy from the country.
Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which lies on the country’s border with Afghanistan, has witnessed frequent attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that targeted security forces convoys and check posts in recent months.
The latest killings were reported after three separate gunbattles between militants and Pakistani security forces from Dec. 25-26, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Two militants were killed in Bannu district while five others were killed in the North Waziristan district in a separate operation.
“However, during this operation, Major Muhammad Awais (age: 31 years, resident of District Narowal), a brave officer, who was leading his troops from the front, having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced Shahadat [martyrdom],” the ISPR said.
In the third operation in South Waziristan district, six militants were gunned down by the security forces while eight others were injured.
“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthens our resolve,” the military said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid tribute to Pakistan’s security forces for battling militants and offered condolences for Major Awais’s killing.
“The entire nation salutes martyred Major Owais,” he said in a statement. “We remain resolute in our desire to eliminate all forms of terrorism.”
Pakistan has struggled to contain militancy in its northwestern KP province. Sixteen Pakistani soldiers and eight militants were killed in a gunfight on Saturday in South Waziristan, the military reported.
The attack was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban. 
Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.