2 security personnel guarding polio vaccinators shot dead in SW Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least two security personnel were killed and another injured in an ambush on a polio vaccination team in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, police said.

The incident occurred in the Mastung district of Balochistan province, where gunmen opened fire on the vaccinators, killing the two personnel on the spot.

It comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched a nationwide April 21-27 vaccination campaign against poliovirus, aiming to root out the crippling disease, which currently exists only in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The injured was taken to a local hospital, where his condition is said to be critical.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Some militant groups often target polio vaccination teams, mainly in the border areas of Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa provinces.

They see the anti-polio campaigns as part of an elaborate anti-Muslim and Western conspiracy, and often issue death threats to vaccinators, many of whom are women, for administering the oral doses to children.

According to Pakistani officials, nearly 150 people associated with the drive have been killed across Pakistan since December 2012.

Last year, the country reported 74 polio cases, while six cases have been confirmed in 2025 so far.

Sharif, in a statement, condemned the latest attack as “cowardice,” vowing that the vaccination drive will continue despite such attacks.