DHAKA: Seven Pakistani policemen, three of whom were guarding polio workers, have been killed in Karachi, officials say.

Eight gunmen on motorcycles fired at a group of three guards and later at a van containing four officers, officials told the Pakistan Tribune, reports the BBC.

Islamist militants oppose vaccination, saying it is a Western conspiracy to sterilize Pakistani children.

In January, 15 people were killed in a bomb attack on a vaccination centre in the south-western city of Quetta.

Polio workers called off the vaccination drive in Karachi following the attack, despite the home minister's order to continue, the Tribune reported.

According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, police have offered a reward of 5 million rupees for information on the killers, and 2 million rupees compensation to the victims’ families.

Talking to reporters at the scene, Sindh police Inspector General AD Khawaja said polio drops would be ‘administered to our children at all costs’ and said security for polio teams would be increased.

Pakistan is one of only two countries, along with Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Militants have repeatedly targeted vaccination programs, killing nearly 80 people since December 2012.

The country recorded more than 300 polio cases in 2014 - its highest number since 1999.

Most of the new infections were in north-west Pakistan, where militants regularly target roving health teams, and health officials blamed the rise in cases on several deadly attacks on police workers that year.

The number of cases fell to just 52 in 2015, largely because vaccination teams could reach areas that were previously off limits because of militancy.

BDST: 1942 HRS, APR 20, 2016
RR