ISLAMABAD, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Three policemen were injured in a firing incident in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday, police said.
The cops were deployed at the security of polio workers during a door-to-door campaign to administer polio vaccine to kids when they were attacked by unknown gunmen in Khyber district of the province, the Khyber police said in a statement.
The polio team remained safe in the attack, and the drive to vaccinate the kids has been temporarily suspended in the area.
The injured policemen were shifted to a nearby hospital, whereas a search operation has been kicked off in the area to arrest the fleeing militants.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
A five-day anti-polio drive in 12 districts of the province kicked off on Monday, with an aim to administer vaccines to over 3.5 million children under five years of age.
According to a recent report from the World Health Organization, all the new polio cases reported in Pakistan since January 2021 are from seven polio-endemic districts in the southern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. ■
