Two police officers killed while guarding polio teams in Mohmand

Two police officers assigned to protect polio vaccination workers were killed in a drive-by shooting in Mohmand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, according to local officials. A third officer was wounded when gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire as the police party travelled to guard vaccination teams.

The attackers fled after the shooting, and no group immediately claimed responsibility. The incident occurred during a door-to-door campaign that began on Monday and aims to vaccinate children against polio across Pakistan.

Police officer Ayaz Khan said the officers were on their way to a nearby village when they came under attack. The reported assault targeted the security detail rather than the vaccination workers themselves, but it directly affected the protection arrangement for the campaign.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and offered condolences to the families of the two officers. He described the policemen as having been assigned to support a healthier future for the country through the protection of vaccination teams.

The shooting followed the reported abduction of four polio workers in Tank district a day earlier. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi called for steps to secure their release, adding to concerns about the safety of staff and personnel involved in the campaign.

Militant groups have repeatedly targeted polio drives and police deployed to protect them. False claims about vaccination campaigns have complicated public-health work in some areas and have placed vaccinators, support staff and law-enforcement personnel at risk.

Pakistan launched the nationwide campaign to vaccinate 24 million children. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only countries where wild poliovirus is endemic, making uninterrupted access to children and protection for frontline workers central to eradication efforts.

Authorities have not announced arrests or identified those responsible for the Mohmand attack. The immediate next steps are likely to focus on the investigation, security arrangements for vaccination teams and efforts to recover the workers reported missing in Tank.