Four polio workers abducted in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Islamabad: As many as four polio workers were kidnapped by unidentified assailants after being subjected to gunfire in the Tank district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local media reported on Tuesday.

As per the details, four polio workers were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Tank and taken to an undisclosed place. Police have launched a probe into the incident, Pakistan-based daily The Express Tribune reported.

In a separate incident, two polio workers were abducted by gunmen in the Azam Warsak area in Lower South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and subsequently released.

Gunmen linked to the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were allegedly responsible for the kidnapping of two members of a polio vaccination team. However, both of them were later released, The Express Tribune reported.

The attack on members of the polio vaccination team comes while Pakistan continues to report surge in polio cases.

Pakistan reported the eighth polio case in 2026 from the Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (NEOC) said.

An official of the polio programme said that the affected child is a 13-month-old girl belonging to Bara tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that this case was the second one from Khyber district and the sixth from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan-based another daily Dawn reported.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative has launched a probe into the case and is analysing the best science-based response to stop transmission of the polio virus, including targeted vaccination activities.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers in Pakistan have been frequently targeted in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Earlier on September 22, two police personnel guarding polio workers were killed by armed assailants in Noshki district of the Balochistan province.

Noshki City Station House Officer (SHO) Munawar Zaman said that armed assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on police personnel guarding a team of female polio workers who were inoculating children during the week-long vaccination drive, Dawn reported.

The polio team and its members were not hurt in the attack. The gunmen fled from the spot after taking the official weapons of police personnel. After the attack, the authorities suspended the anti-polio campaign in the area.

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