Two police guarding polio team shot dead in Nushki

Two police personnel assigned to protect a polio vaccination team were shot dead on Tuesday in the Jamalabad area of Nushki, Balochistan, police said. The attackers escaped, and a search operation is underway.

The police officers were guarding the polio workers when an armed motorcyclist opened fire, according to Nushki SP Saleem Shahwani, who spoke to Independent Urdu. Both officers died at the scene; the vaccination team was not harmed. They were identified as Abdul Rauf Mengal and Yasir.

Shahwani said checkpoints were set up in the area after the attack and a search operation had begun. Police sources cited by Independent Urdu said the attackers also took the official weapons of the two officers as they fled.

Balochistan Home Minister Zia Langove sought a report from the inspector general of police and the home secretary. In a statement from his office, he said targeting police officers guarding polio workers is an attack on the safe future of children. "The fight against polio is a fight to give Balochistan's children a safe and healthy future," he said. He added that terrorist elements cannot damage efforts to protect children from disease.

The attack came a day after Balochistan began a seven-day polio campaign. Authorities have formed 9,000 teams, with police security provided in all districts, including Quetta.

Polio teams and their security personnel have been attacked in Balochistan before. Nushki has experienced serious unrest for two years, and the banned separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army is active in the area, according to previous reporting. The city has been hit repeatedly, and security forces have at times imposed curfews to control the situation.