Gunmen killed two policemen and wounded a third in the Mohmand polio attack on Tuesday. The officers were travelling to guard a vaccination team in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The shooting came during a national campaign to vaccinate nearly 24 million children. It also followed the abduction of four members of a polio team in Tank district a day earlier. This report is as of November 3, 6:30 PM PKT.
What happened in the Mohmand polio attack
According to Dawn, the shooting happened close to the Hashim Kor checkpost, in Dag Tamanzai in Pindiali tehsil. Police quoted by AFP said two attackers on a motorcycle fired at the officers’ vehicle.
Police named the two officers who died as Constables Zahoor Khan and Arbai Khan. A third officer, Sabir Khan, suffered injuries. District Police Officer Raza Muhammad Khan told The Express Tribune that one attacker was also wounded. Police then launched a search operation in the area.
Importantly, no vaccinators were travelling with the officers, police official Ali Rehman Khan told AFP.
Later, funeral prayers for the two officers were held at the Police Lines in Ghalanai. Senior district officials and local residents attended.
Leaders condemn the killings
President Asif Ali Zardari called the attack “extremely regrettable and condemnable”. He said police guarding polio teams were “performing a national duty” and that the nation would not forget their sacrifices.
Similarly, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi described the attack as “unacceptable”. He said those responsible did not deserve any leniency.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility. However, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and other armed groups have carried out similar attacks in the past. Some militants falsely claim that vaccination campaigns are a Western plot.
Abductions in Tank and South Waziristan
The Mohmand shooting was not the only incident this week. On Monday, gunmen fired on a polio team in Jious village in Tank district. They then abducted four of its members, according to Dawn and The Express Tribune. Al Jazeera described those abducted as police officers protecting the team. As of Tuesday evening, they had not been found.
KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi told officials to act quickly to bring them home safely. He described vaccinators as people doing a national duty for children.
In a separate case, armed men kidnapped two members of a vaccination team in Lower South Waziristan. The kidnappers later freed them, The Express Tribune reported.
Campaign under pressure
These attacks came as a special vaccination drive got under way. The campaign began on November 2 in 97 high-risk districts. According to the National Emergency Operations Centre, it runs until November 8.
Wild poliovirus remains endemic in just two countries: Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. On Sunday, health officials confirmed another case, in a girl aged 13 months from Khyber district. Dawn and Al Jazeera describe it as the eighth case of 2026, while The Express Tribune, citing the NEOC, reported it as the seventh. Six of this year’s cases have come from KP.
Although case numbers are far lower than in 2025, officials warn that insecurity remains the biggest obstacle. In July, Pakistani officials informed the Independent Monitoring Board, a global polio watchdog, that persistent violence, especially in southern KP, was preventing teams from reaching every child.
A long pattern of violence
Sadly, attacks on polio teams and their guards are not new. In September, gunmen killed two policemen when they fired on a vaccination team in Noshki, Balochistan. In April, an attack in Hangu killed a constable and wounded four others as they travelled to protect polio teams.
Each attack makes vaccinators’ work harder and can keep children unprotected. Polio spreads easily and can cause lifelong paralysis. For that reason, health experts stress that reaching every child in every round is essential.
For now, the campaign continues across the country. Investigations into both the Mohmand and Tank incidents are under way.
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