Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed two police officers guarding a vaccination campaign in Pakistan’s Mohmand district on Tuesday, marking a deadly escalation on the second day of a nationwide immunization drive.
Ambush in Mohmand District
Headquarters Deputy Superintendent of Police Liaquat Ali identified the slain constables as Zahoor Khan and Arbai Khan, while noting that Sepoy Sabir Khan sustained injuries in the exchange of fire as reported by Dawn. Rescue 1122 and District Police Officer Raza Muhammad Khan confirmed that one of the attackers was also wounded during the gunfight as detailed by Minute Mirror. The injured officer and the bodies of the deceased were transported to the hospital according to Rediff, and later funeral prayers for the two martyred policemen were offered at the Police Lines in Ghalanai, attended by the Commandant Mohmand Rifles, the deputy commissioner, the district police officer, other officials, and local residents.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting noted the Eagle-Tribune. Authorities pointed out that the Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP, and other armed factions frequently target vaccination escorts reported Aljazeera under the false belief that immunization efforts are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Abductions in Tank District
The violence followed a separate incident on Monday in the Tank district, where unidentified armed men abducted four polio vaccination workers according to Arab News PK. District Police Officer Abdul Samad Khan stated that the gunmen seized the workers in the village of Jious within the Sheikh Attar union council and took them to an undisclosed location reported Minute Mirror. In a separate episode in Lower South Waziristan’s Azam Warsak area, two additional polio team members were kidnapped by gunmen linked to the TTP and subsequently released noted The Express Tribune.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned the abductions reported The Nation, directing authorities to take immediate measures for the safe recovery of the captives noted Dawn. The abduction of polio workers is an extremely regrettable and condemnable incident,
Kundi said in a statement cited by Arab News PK, adding that the workers perform a vital national duty.
Nationwide Immunization Drive Amid Endemic Polio
The attacks coincided with a sub-national vaccination campaign launched on November 2 across 97 selected districts stated Minute Mirror. The National Emergency Operations Centre reported that the drive aims to reach nearly 24 million children under five with the help of more than 200,000 health workers according to the Business Recorder. On the first day alone, more than 6.68 million children received polio drops noted Arab News PK, including more than 2.50 million children in 13 selected districts of Punjab, 1.97 million in 20 districts of Sindh, over 1.37 million in 27 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and over 572,000 in 31 districts of Balochistan, along with coverage for more than 148,000 children in Islamabad, 49,000 in three selected districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, and 66,000 in two districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries globally where wild poliovirus is still endemic reported the Eagle-Tribune. The current campaign follows the confirmation of Pakistan’s eighth polio case of 2026, involving a 13-month-old girl from the Jan Baz Union Council in Bara tehsil of Khyber district stated Minute Mirror. Government figures show the country recorded 31 polio cases in 2025, down from 74 in 2024 noted Arab News PK.
Police personnel deployed to protect polio teams are performing a national duty and their sacrifices will not be forgotten.
Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari emphasized that ensuring the safety of these vaccination workers remains a critical priority for the administration as nationwide immunization efforts press forward.