A policeman escorting a polio team was shot at and injured in an attack by unidentified gunmen in Mardan’s Pirsadi area on Tuesday, officials said.

According to Saddar Circle Superintendent of Police (SP) Khalid Khan, unknown assailants on a motorcycle opened fire and managed to flee the crime scene. He identified the wounded cop as Zohar Qayyum.

The official told Dawn.com that the incident occurred just as polio workers were about to enter a house for vaccination as a part of the ongoing five-day anti-polio campaign in the province.

The police arrived at the site immediately after the incident and a search operation is under way, SP Khan added.

Meanwhile, District Emergency Officer Imran Khan Yousafzai said the injured cop was moved to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and later referred to the Mardan Medical Complex for further treatment.

Today’s attack comes a week after a cop was martyred and three others injured in an exchange of fire with terrorists in Mardan’s Katlang tehsil.

In January, a polio worker was killed and a police official sustained injuries after unidentified assailants opened fire on a vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district.

The same month, six cops and a soldier embraced martyrdom in two acts of terrorism in Bajaur and North Waziristan districts. An explosive device targeted a vehicle carrying police personnel for escorting polio vaccinators in Mamond tehsil.