PESHAWAR- Two polio workers were shot dead and three others were abductedby unidentified assailants in Safi tehsil of Mohmand Agency on Saturday.

According to Political Administration officials, unidentified miscreantsopened fire on the polio team comprising seven volunteers in Safi tehsil ofthe agency.

Two polio workers managed to escape the attack and reached Ghalanai, theheadquarter of Mohmand Agency, and informed about the incident, theofficials said.

Attacks targeting polio teams were very frequent few years back butfollowing the military operation, their frequency has decreased over thelast few years.

Pakistan along with Afghanistan, the last two polio-endemic countries inthe world, is facing militants, who first forcibly stopped vaccination inSwat in 2007 and then in North and South Waziristan agencies in 2012 andthus, leaving at least 160 children crippled.

Officials associated with the anti-polio campaign in the province believethey cannot afford to abandon the efforts due to attacks and lose the gainsthey have obtained in the prolonged fight against polio.

The authorities in KP and Fata bank on the support of security personnel toeradicate polio from the region for good.