In brief
During a polio vaccination drive in Mohmand district, two police officers were killed and another wounded in an exchange of fire with militants. The attack has raised security concerns for public health operations in the northwestern province. No group has yet claimed responsibility.
Gunmen fired on police protecting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early Tuesday, killing two officers and wounding a third, police said.
The incident occurred in Mohmand district, where the police were providing security for the anti‑polio campaign, according to a police report that Xinhua carried early on Tuesday.
Local media reported that the attackers were believed to be militants riding a motorcycle, who opened fire and then fled the scene, as reported by the Associated Press with a byline from Peshawar.
The injured policeman has been shifted to a nearby hospital, while the area was cordoned off for investigation, the police statement added according to Xinhua.
In its reporting, Xinhua noted that no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, and police said the militants “fled the scene.” The attack has raised concerns over security for public health operations in Pakistan’s northwestern province, where polio remains one of only two countries worldwide where the disease is endemic.
Health workers remain on the ground conducting vaccination campaigns, and officials say the attacks come as the country continues regular efforts to immunize children against polio, a disease that has seen a sharp decline in recent years.
