PESHAWAR: An anti-polio worker was shot dead in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, police said, accusing militants who frequently target vaccination teams of being behind the attack.

Police said an anti-polio worker on routine duty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Bajaur district — abutting the Afghan border — was shot in the head by “unidentified persons”.

“The attackers successfully fled on a motorcycle,” senior police officer Kashif Zulfiqar told AFP, adding the coordinator was evacuated by helicopter to the provincial capital Peshawar but died in hospital.

He called the attack “an act of militancy” and said police are “conducting further investigations”.

Another man was also shot in the leg and shoulder, and was being treated in a local hospital.