BUNER: Two policemen assigned to escort polio vaccinators were gunned down by suspected militants in Pir Baba area late on Sunday night, police said.

Buner district police chief Asif Iqbal Mohammad said that Usman Ali of Malakpur and Mohammad Din of Ghurghoshto were going from the Elum Ghar post to escort a vaccination team in Pir Baba area when they came under fire.

The attackers took away the rifles of the constables, he said, adding that police posts had been set up at various places to keep vigil on the activities of militants.

The bodies were handed over to cops’ families after autopsy and police registered a case against unknown assailants.

The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. TTP spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said in a statement that shooters of a special group formed to carry out targeted killings had murdered the policemen.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2014