A policeman was killed in a gunshot by unidentified militants in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday morning, official sources said.

The incident happened at about 9:20 a.m. local time (GMT 0420) in the Khyber district, where the policeman, who was on duty as part of a polio vaccination campaign, was targeted.

The sources from the district told Xinhua that the assailants fled the scene after seizing the cop’s submachine gun.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

However, the sources indicated that the area has seen increased activities by militant groups, including factions associated with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Police cordoned off the area, and an investigation into the attack has commenced.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday began a nationwide anti-polio campaign for 2025.

This reaffirmed his government’s determination to eliminate the polio disease from the South Asian country.

(Xinhua/NAN)