Four Polio Vaccination Workers Kidnapped by Gunmen in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD– Four polio vaccination workers were abducted by unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said Tuesday, raising fresh concerns about the safety of health workers as the country struggles to contain the spread of the disease.
The workers were kidnapped in Tank district after coming under gunfire and were taken to an undisclosed location, according to Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune.
Police have launched an investigation into the abductions, although authorities have not identified the attackers or disclosed the condition of the four workers.
In a separate incident, two members of a polio vaccination team were kidnapped by armed men in the Azam Warsak area of Lower South Waziristan district. Both workers were subsequently released.
Gunmen allegedly linked to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group were responsible for the second kidnapping, according to The Express Tribune.
The incidents come amid continuing security threats against vaccination teams in Pakistan, where health workers and police officers assigned to protect them have repeatedly faced attacks.
The latest kidnappings also coincide with an increase in reported polio infections, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication confirmed the country’s eighth polio case of 2026, involving a 13-month-old girl from Bara tehsil in Khyber district.
The infection marked the second reported case in Khyber district and the sixth in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province this year, according to Pakistani newspaper Dawn.
Health officials said the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative has opened an investigation into the latest infection and is evaluating additional measures to prevent further transmission, including targeted vaccination campaigns.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the world’s only two countries where wild poliovirus continues to circulate as an endemic disease.
Efforts to eliminate polio in Pakistan have been complicated by militant violence, security concerns and attacks targeting vaccination personnel, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
On September 22, two police officers assigned to protect a polio vaccination team were killed by armed attackers in Noshki district of Balochistan.
According to Noshki City Station House Officer Munawar Zaman, gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on police officers guarding female health workers who were administering polio vaccines to children during a weeklong immunization campaign.
The vaccination team escaped unharmed, but the attackers seized the officers’ official weapons before fleeing the scene.
Authorities subsequently suspended the vaccination campaign in the affected area following the attack.
The latest abductions underscore the continuing security challenges facing Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts as health authorities work to reach vulnerable communities and prevent further infections. (Source: IANS)
