Two police personnel were martyred and another was injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on officers deployed to protect an anti-polio vaccination campaign in Mohmand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday.
According to police, the attack took place in the Dag Tamanzai area. The officers were heading to perform security duties for the ongoing polio vaccination campaign when armed men targeted them.
Police have launched a search operation in the area to arrest those responsible for the attack.
Polio vaccination teams and the police personnel assigned to protect them have repeatedly come under attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Such incidents aim to disrupt efforts to eradicate the disease.
In September, two policemen guarding a polio team were also martyred when unidentified armed men opened fire in Nushki district of Balochistan.
The latest incident comes amid an ongoing subnational polio vaccination campaign targeting around 24 million children across 97 districts of Pakistan.
According to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), the campaign began on November 2 and will continue until November 8.
Polio is a highly contagious disease that can cause permanent paralysis and, in some cases, death. Although there is no cure, safe and effective vaccines can prevent the disease. Polio vaccines have been used in 195 countries, including all Muslim-majority countries.
Pakistan has reported eight cases of wild poliovirus type 1 so far this year. Six cases have been recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two in Sindh.
