Two policemen killed in militant attack on polio team in K-P, attackers shot dead

Two policemen guarding a polio vaccination team were shot dead by militants in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Orakzai district on Tuesday, following which two attackers were also killed, police said.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by militants waging a campaign against security forces.

On Monday, the government launched a week-long vaccination campaign with the aim of immunising more than 45 million children under the age of five.

Malik Sikandar, a senior police officer in Orakzai, told AFP: “Two militants attacked policemen guarding a polio vaccination team.”

“One policeman died at the scene while the second succumbed to injuries” en route to hospital, he told AFP, adding that officers chased down and killed the two attackers and a local accomplice.

Another police official, Naveedullah Khan, confirmed the fatality and told AFP that two vaccination workers on the team “were inside the home during the attack and remained safe”.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in K-P, which has long been a hive of militant activity.