Two police officials who were deployed on security of a polio team were killed as unidentified men opened fire on them near Markhani Bridge, Maidan area of Lower Dir on Wednesday.
The victims have been identified as Farman and Mukarram. The policemen, who were posted at the Lal Qila police station, were travelling on a motorcycle when the attackers stopped their vehicle on the bridge near the village and opened fire at them and both policemen died on the spot. The suspects managed to escape.
The dead bodies have been shifted to nearby hospital.
The police have started a search operation to nab the suspects.
Deputy Commissioner Saadat Hassan had inaugurated the anti-polio drive in Lower Dir on December 16. Seventy polio teams were formed with the aim to administer anti-polio drops to 307,254 children during the drive.
The total number of polio cases in Pakistan have surged to 104 during the current year. Pakistan is among a handful of countries that are still battling the disease which has been widely eradicated.
In a recent report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) predicted Pakistan as a polio-endemic state in 2020 as well.
The WHO report stated that increased instances of polio cases in Pakistan in 2019 as compared to 2017 and 2018 highlights the continued geographic spread of the virus.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019