Gunmen kill police officer escorting UN-funded polio vaccine drive in Pakistan

Gunmen on motorbikes on Tuesday killed a police officer on a United Nations polio drive in Pakistan.

Health workers and police were carrying out a door-to-door polio vaccination drive in the country when the gunmen struck.

The latest attack targeting the campaign occurred in the town of Naushki in the restive south-western province of Balochistan during a third nationwide vaccination drive this year, police official Mohamed Hussain said.

He said the health workers escaped unharmed as attackers fled the scene after the shooting.

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No group has claimed responsibility so far, but both the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State militias are active in the region and have been targeting polio vaccination campaigns.

At least two officers were killed in Balochistan last month while escorting the UN-funded drive that is carried out periodically across Pakistan.

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