Gunmen shot dead two police officers protecting polio vaccination workers in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday. The officials said that the attack took place as health teams carried out a door-to-door campaign targeting more than 31 million children.The gunmen opened fire when Nushki district, polio workers were administering oral vaccine drops to children inside a home. The health workers escaped unharmed, local police official Munawar Zaman said.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police officers killed during vaccination drive
The officers had been deployed to protect the vaccination team, which was carrying out the weeklong immunisation campaign launched by the government on Monday.The latest campaign aims to vaccinate more than 31 million children across Pakistan against polio.Balochistan has faced repeated attacks by militant groups, including separatist militants. The Pakistani Taliban has also previously targeted security forces and civilians in Balochistan and other parts of the country.Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack in a statement.
Pakistan remains polio hotspot
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where transmission of wild poliovirus has not been interrupted, according to the World Health Organisation.Security concerns have repeatedly complicated vaccination efforts in Pakistan, with polio workers and the police personnel assigned to protect them facing attacks during previous campaigns.
