Pak: 2 cops protecting polio team shot dead in Mardan

Two police officers assigned to protect polio vaccinations workers in the Mardan district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were shot dead, police said.

The victims, identified as police constables Shakir and Syed Raza, were on security duty for the polio team and were on their way back to the police station on a motorcycle after safely dropping the team off, said District Police Officer (DPO) Zahidullah.

He added that the two had been shot at by unknown assailants who then managed to escape, Express Tribune reported.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack. The incident comes two days after the federal government launched a nationwide drive to eradicate the crippling disease by the end of the year.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the two countries in the world where polio is endemic.

Polio eradication drive in Pakistan remains a challenge for the country's government as terrorists continue to attack health care workers and security persons who accompanied them.

Terror groups consider anti-polio vaccines as a Western conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

( With inputs from ANI )