Two policemen were killed in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday as unidentified gunmen attacked a health office where polio vaccination teams were gathered, officials said.

Mohammad Zeeshan Khan, deputy coordinator of the government body managing polio campaigns, told Reuters that the attack occurred in Upper Orakzai in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where around 13 polio team members were present.

“We are in touch with local authorities and confirm the polio teams are safe,” Khan said.

Two killed in attack on polio vaccination team

“The polio campaign has been suspended in the area,” he said.

“One policeman died at the scene while the second succumbed to injuries” en route to hospital, Malik Sikandar, a senior officer in the northwestern town of Orakzai, told AFP, adding that officers chased down and killed the two attackers and a local accomplice.

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

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militant groups in the region have previously claimed similar attacks on polio teams, falsely portraying the inoculation campaigns as a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.

Although mostly eradicated elsewhere, wiping out polio is still an aim in Pakistan, which has 41 active cases so far in 2024, according to the prime minister’s office.

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world still left with active cases.

On Monday, Pakistan launched its third nationwide polio campaign this year as the number of cases drastically rose from only six recorded cases in 2023, after 20 in 2022 and just one in 2021.

The week-long campaign aims to administer the anti-polio vaccine drops to more than 45 million children.

‘Attack on polio team is assault on Pakistan’s future’

Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the terrorist attack on the polio team in Orakzai.

“The terrorist attack on the polio team is an assault on Pakistan’s future,” Naqvi said as he paid tribute to the bravery of two police personnel who were martyred while fighting the terrorists.