DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two officials associated with a polio vaccination team went missing while returning from duty in Dera Ismail Khan, with police suspecting they may have been abducted.
The incident took place in Kot Daulat area of Kulachi tehsil, where polio team officer Mubashir Hassan and vaccination supervisor Jumma Khan went missing after completing their duty and heading back, according to Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer Ziauddin Ahmed.
Police said that contact with both officials had remained severed since Wednesday. The two men belong to Hathala union council.
A report regarding the alleged abduction has been registered on the complaint of Sakhi Jan, the brother of one of the missing officials, police said.
The authorities have launched a search operation and are investigating the incident from different angles to determine the whereabouts of the two men and establish the circumstances surrounding their disappearance.
The development comes amid heightened security concerns surrounding polio vaccination teams in parts of the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Two policemen guarding polio team martyred in Nushki
The disappearance in Dera Ismail Khan comes two days after two policemen deployed to protect an anti-polio vaccination team were martyred in an attack in Nushki district of Balochistan.
Police said unidentified armed men opened fire on the security personnel in the Killi Jamalabad area while they were deployed alongside a vaccination team.
The slain policemen were identified as Muhammad Yasir and Abdul Rauf.
The attackers fled the scene after the shooting and took the official weapons of the two policemen with them, according to police.
The area was cordoned off and a search operation was launched to trace the attackers, while an investigation into the incident was under way.
Balochistan Interior Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau condemned the attack and sought reports from the inspector general of police and additional home secretary.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the killings and expressed condolences to the families of the slain policemen.
Balochistan Home Department adviser Babar Yousafzai said protecting polio teams was a shared responsibility of the state and society, while Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said attacks on vaccination workers and their security personnel would not stop efforts to eradicate polio.
Kakar said Balochistan had not reported a polio case for the past 22 months and reiterated the government’s commitment to protecting children and continuing vaccination efforts.
Polio teams have previously faced attacks in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with security personnel deployed to protect vaccinators also being targeted.
Nationwide anti-polio campaign under way
The incidents have occurred as Pakistan’s nationwide anti-polio campaign is being conducted from September 21 to 27.
Around 31 million children across the country are expected to receive oral polio vaccine during the campaign.
Security personnel have been deployed alongside vaccination teams in areas where polio workers face security threats.
Pakistan has reported four cases of wild poliovirus so far in 2026, according to official data.
Over 6.1 million children vaccinated in Punjab
In Punjab, more than 6.1 million children received polio drops during the first three days of the ongoing campaign, according to provincial officials.
The campaign covered more than 900,000 children in Lahore, over 400,000 in Rawalpindi and around 700,000 in Multan during the first three days.
Punjab Emergency Operations Centre head Khalid Parvez said Thursday was the final day of the campaign in nine districts, while the campaign would continue for seven days in Lahore.
In Sindh, the sub-national anti-polio campaign was in its fourth day, with more than 8.59 million children having received the vaccine, according to the Emergency Operations Centre.
Officials said around 10 million children were targeted during the campaign in the province.
The Sindh EOC has urged parents and guardians to cooperate with vaccination teams visiting households and said families travelling during the campaign could call the 1166 helpline for assistance in getting their children vaccinated.
The latest incidents underscore the security challenges faced by polio workers and the personnel assigned to protect them as Pakistan continues its efforts to eradicate the disease.
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