Three polio workers seized by militants in the Jhandu Khel area of Bannu (a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan) have been freed after joint efforts by police and local jirga elders — traditional community councils used for dispute resolution. The workers were taken on Wednesday during a nationwide vaccination drive running from April 13 to 19, prompting rapid action led by the district police officer, who worked alongside community mediators to secure their release. The recovery comes amid a broader pattern of militant attacks on Pakistan's polio eradication programme, with vaccinators and their police escorts frequently targeted, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.