A polio worker and a police constable were shot dead in separate incidents in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday as the country began a week-long polio eradication campaign amid tight security.

Unidentified assailants opened fire and killed a polio worker in Bannu district on the very first day of the anti-polio drive that commenced across Pakistan on Monday.

The incident occurred in Kala Khel Masti Khan and the attackers managed to escape. Police stated that the deceased polio worker was on his way to duty when he was attacked.

In a separate incident in Karak district, Constable Ishtiaq Ahmed, escorting a team of polio workers, was killed when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire. The assailants managed to escape.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the attacks on polio teams in the province.

A week-long polio eradication campaign across Pakistan began on Monday amid tight security to ensure its smooth sailing against the crippling disease that saw a surge this year with 63 cases reported so far.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only countries where the paralysing virus is still rampant. 

News agency AP reported that authorities deployed thousands of police officers to protect the health workers following intelligence reports that insurgents could target them.

Citing health officials and authorities, AP said more than 200 polio workers and police assigned for their protection have been killed since the 1990s.