PESHAWAR: Six men including two polio workers were kidnapped from a rural area in Frontier Region Tank, official sources told Dawn.com on Monday.

Sources said that a driver accompanying a team of polio vaccination workers and three Khasadar security personnel were also picked up by unknown people while the team was on routine duty in Peeng village in FR Tank.

Sources added that the kidnapped men included Dr Khandad and Fareed Taleem Ullah, who were working for the polio vaccination program.

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility of the kidnapping.

The incident comes a day after a policeman deployed for a vaccination campaign was killed in a bomb attack in Peshawar.

FR Tank lies on the outer boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district and separates it from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) governed by tribal laws.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling polio virus remains endemic.

According to the WHO, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. It warned earlier this year that Peshawar is the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio.

More than 40 health workers and police personnel providing security to teams administering anti-polio drops to children have been killed in incidents of violence in the country since December 2012, according to a tally by news agency AFP.

Opinion

Editorial

In chains
Updated 25 May, 2026

In chains

THE question should never be about who is at the receiving end at any given point in time: an assault on an...
Climate shocks
25 May, 2026

Climate shocks

THE latest State Bank report documenting recurring climatic disasters in Pakistan during the period between 2000 and...
Justice deferred
25 May, 2026

Justice deferred

PAKISTAN’S courts are quick to remind the public that justice takes time. Increasingly, however, it is the conduct...
Some progress
Updated 24 May, 2026

Some progress

Pakistan deserves credit for helping preserve diplomatic space, but also must avoid appearing aligned with coercive pressure from any side.
Chinese market
24 May, 2026

Chinese market

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s trip to China presents an opportunity to rebalance Pakistan’s economic...
Harvesting humans
24 May, 2026

Harvesting humans

ORGAN brokers have for too long preyed on desperation to rake it in. The odious trade — among the most harmful...