Two policemen guarding polio team killed in Nushki attack

NUSHKI: Two police constables guarding a polio vaccination team were killed in Nushki district of Balochistan on Tuesday after unidentified armed men opened fire, police said.

The slain officers were identified as Yasir Ahmed and Abdul Rauf, according to Nushki City police station. Police told Geo News the attackers also took the two men's service weapons after the firing.

The attack occurred a day after a nationwide anti-polio campaign began on September 21 and is scheduled to continue through September 27. Around 31 million children are to be given polio vaccine drops during the drive.

Geo News reported that polio teams and their escorts are frequently attacked in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where hostile elements try to disrupt vaccination campaigns. In May this year, two policemen were killed in separate attacks on polio teams in Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the same report.

Balochistan Pulse, which also reported the Nushki incident, said two police officers were killed while providing security to a polio team.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was committed to completely eradicating polio. He made the remarks in Islamabad on September 10 during a meeting with a delegation from the Gates Foundation, Geo News reported. The prime minister said the national polio eradication programme enjoyed patronage at the highest level and acknowledged the Gates Foundation's role in polio eradication and public health.

The Nushki attack is the latest in a series of assaults on vaccination workers and police escorts, highlighting persistent insecurity around the polio campaign in parts of the country.