Nine cases of polio have been reported this year in this district adjoining Afghanistan, after which a team was going door-to-door in connection with the vaccination campaign. The gunmen then attacked the team, killing a member of the team and two policemen guarding them.
Police has started investigating the matter. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has condemned the incident.
He directed the police chief to nab the people involved in the attack at the earliest.
“The attackers on the polio team are the enemies of our children,” said a statement issued by Shahid Ali Khan, Deputy Commissioner of North Waziristan.
The statement said, “The accused will be arrested soon. Whatever happens, the KPK government is committed to eradicating polio from the province.”
Attacks on personnel involved in anti-polio vaccination campaigns have increased in Pakistan recently.
In March this year, gunmen shot dead a female polio worker in northwest Pakistan while returning home after participating in an anti-polio campaign.
In January last year, gunmen shot dead a police officer guarding a team of polio vaccination workers in northwest Pakistan.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio has not been eradicated.