Two policemen guarding polio team martyred in Nushki gun attack

NUSHKI: Two policemen providing security to an anti-polio vaccination team were martyred after unidentified armed men opened fire on them in the Killi Jamalabad area of Noshki district in Balochistan on Tuesday, police said.

The slain policemen were identified as Muhammad Yasir and Abdul Rauf.

According to police, the personnel were deployed to protect a polio vaccination team when the attackers opened fire and fled the scene with the policemen’s official weapons.

Police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the attackers, while an investigation into the incident was also under way.

The attack took place as Pakistan’s nationwide anti-polio campaign is under way from September 21 to 27.

Security personnel are deployed alongside vaccination teams in areas where polio workers face security threats.

Balochistan Interior Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau condemned the attack and sought reports from the inspector general of police and the additional home secretary.

He expressed condolences to the families of the slain policemen and said terrorism could not weaken the state’s resolve to maintain law and order.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

Balochistan Home Department adviser Babar Yousafzai said protecting polio teams was a shared responsibility of the state and society.

He condemned the attack and said law enforcement agencies were taking steps to bring those involved to justice.

Balochistan Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar also condemned the attack, expressing grief over the deaths of the policemen assigned to protect the vaccination team.

“Polio teams are frontline workers and such cowardly attacks cannot deter our efforts,” Kakar said, adding that protecting polio workers was the government’s foremost responsibility.

He said Balochistan had not reported a polio case for the past 22 months and pledged that efforts to provide children with a safe and healthy future would continue.

Polio vaccination teams have frequently faced attacks in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where security personnel assigned to protect vaccinators have also been targeted.

A police officer guarding a polio team was martyred in Nushki in May.

Pakistan’s current nationwide anti-polio campaign, which began on September 21, is scheduled to continue until September 27.

Official data currently lists four wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan in 2026.