Two Police Officers Guarding Polio Vaccination Teams Killed in Pakistan Ambush

Gunmen on a motorcycle have fatally shot two police officers who were providing security for polio vaccination teams in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack occurred on Tuesday as the officers were en route to a nearby village. A third officer sustained injuries in the ambush. Police official Ali Rehman Khan stated to AFP news agency that while two police personnel were martyred and one injured, no polio vaccination staff were present in the police vehicle at the time of the incident.

This incident follows the kidnapping of four officers who were protecting polio workers just a day prior. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting. However, the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) and other militant groups, who falsely allege that polio vaccination efforts are part of a Western sterilization plot, have been known to carry out similar attacks.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the shooting on X, calling it "extremely regrettable and condemnable." He emphasized that police personnel safeguarding polio teams are performing a vital national duty and their sacrifices would not be forgotten.

The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also the location where the four officers were abducted on Monday. Search operations are ongoing for the missing officers.

Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains one of the last two countries globally where wild poliovirus is still endemic. Last year, Pakistan recorded 31 cases of the disease. The violence coincides with a targeted polio vaccination campaign launched on Sunday, aiming to reach approximately 24 million children in 97 high-risk districts across the country. On the same day the campaign began, health authorities confirmed Pakistan's eighth polio case of the year: a 13-month-old girl from the Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been the most affected province with six cases, followed by Sindh with two.

Polio is a highly contagious disease that spreads easily from person to person and can lead to severe conditions, including paralysis, in extreme cases.