(MENAFN- IANS) Islamabad, Oct 14 (IANS) A Levies constable deployed for the protection of polio vaccination team was shot dead after unidentified assailants opened fire on him in the Swat district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday according to the police authorities, local media reported.

The attack on Levies constable comes a day after the government launched a polio eradication campaign across the nation, with a goal to vaccinate more than 45 million children. According to Swat's District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Umar Khan, Levies constable who was killed was doing his duty along with a polio team comprising two female health workers, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported.

Khan said, "The workers were administering vaccines inside a house while the constable was standing guard outside when he was attacked." He stated that the attackers fled from the spot following the incident. Police and law enforcement officials have arrived at the site of the incident and begun investigations.

He said, "The area has been cordoned off, and a search operation is underway to arrest the culprits. No anti-state elements will be allowed to sabotage peace in Swat," adding that those involved in the attack would be brought to book.

Polio workers have been frequently targetted in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. As many as 20 people were killed and 53 others were injured during anti-polio campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2024.

In May, a police personnel deployed for the protection of vaccination team was killed in a gun attack by unidentified assailants in Balochistan's Noshki district, while another was killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bajaur district in February.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where Wild Poliovirus remains endemic. Polio eradication efforts in Pakistan have slowed down due to challenges like security issues, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.

Earlier in September, two new poliovirus cases were detected in Pakistan's Sindh province, raising the nationwide tally in 2025 to 29, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). The new cases were reported in Badin and Thatta districts, following a recent case in Hyderabad district, bring the provincial total to nine, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported.

According to NIH statement, "with these two cases, both girls, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 29", including 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan.

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