Two police officers protecting polio workers in Pakistan shot dead

Gunmen have shot dead two police officers protecting polio vaccination teams in northwestern Pakistan, a day after four officers protecting polio workers were kidnapped.

The attackers, travelling on a motorcycle, opened fire on a police car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday. A third officer was injured in the attack, which occurred as the officers were travelling to a nearby village to protect polio vaccination teams.

“Two police personnel were martyred and another was injured in the attack. However, no polio vaccination staff were present in the police vehicle,” police official Ali Rehman Khan told the AFP news agency.

No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting, but similar attacks have regularly been carried out by the Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, and other armed groups. These groups falsely believe that polio vaccination teams are part of a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.

In a post on X, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Tuesday’s shooting was “extremely regrettable and condemnable”.

“Police personnel deployed to protect polio teams are performing a national duty; their sacrifices will not be forgotten,” he added.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also where four officers protecting polio workers were abducted on Monday. They have yet to be found, and search efforts remain under way.

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries worldwide where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Pakistan reported 31 cases of the disease last year.

The violence coincided with the launch of a targeted drive on Sunday to reach nearly 24 million children across 97 high-risk districts throughout the country. The same day, health authorities registered the country’s eighth polio case of the year in a 13-month-old girl from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s Khyber district. KP remains the hardest-hit province with six cases, followed by two in Sindh.

Polio is highly contagious and easily spreads between people. In extreme cases, it can lead to life-altering conditions, including paralysis.