Gunmen kill two police guards protecting polio team in southwest Pakistan

Gunmen shot dead two police constables who were guarding a polio vaccination team in southwestern Pakistan, Newsday and Arab News PK reported.

The officers were escorting health workers during a polio immunisation drive when they were attacked, according to the reports. Neither outlet immediately provided details on the exact town or district, the condition of the vaccination workers, or the number of attackers.

No group claimed responsibility for the killings in the immediate aftermath. Militants have repeatedly targeted polio workers and the police assigned to protect them across Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The southwestern region is largely Balochistan, a province that has seen attacks on vaccination teams in previous campaigns.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Pakistan conducts mass vaccination drives in high-risk areas to stop transmission, but health teams often face security threats and community resistance. The government deploys police and paramilitary personnel to guard vaccinators, and attacks on these escorts have disrupted immunisation efforts in several districts.

In recent years, gunmen have killed police officers and polio workers in different parts of the country. Campaigns have been paused in some localities after such assaults, delaying the country's eradication target.

Polio vaccination teams operate under armed escort in Pakistan, where attacks on health workers date back more than a decade. The government has repeatedly condemned such violence and pledged to continue immunisation drives despite the threats. Security officials often review deployment plans after each assault to prevent further casualties.

Local police and district administration officials were not immediately available for comment. Newsday and Arab News PK said they were working to confirm further details.