PESHAWAR: Two Pakistani police officers were injured on Wednesday when unidentified gunmen opened fire on anti-polio vaccination teams in two separate incidents in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Police said.

Police said the incidents took place in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts of the province.

During a door-to-door campaign in Shah Alam village of Tank district bordering Afghanistan, gunmen ambushed a team that was administering polio medicine to children.

A police constable escorting the team was injured in the firing.

The attackers managed to escape from the spot.

Police launched a search operation in the area to arrest the criminals.

In the second incident, a police constable was injured when terrorists opened fire on people administering polio vaccine in Kulachi tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan district.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amin Gandapur condemned the two attacks on the polio team and directed the district police to make every possible effort to arrest the accused soon.

“Polio workers are our frontline heroes and such cowardly actions cannot deter their resolve to eliminate this serious disease from the country,” he said.

In recent days, incidents of attacks on polio teams in the province have claimed many lives, including polio workers and policemen escorting the vaccinators.

In January, a polio vaccination program coordinator was killed, and a policeman was injured when their vehicle was attacked in the province.

Earlier this month, a vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Bajaur tribal district, injuring two people.

According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains an endemic disease.