Two motorcycle-borne gunmen opened fire on anti-polio immunisation campaign workers in Chaman in Balochistan, Pakistan on Thursday and killed one team member, reports said. Government official Samiullah Agha identified the deceased as Rashida Bibi and said that another team member was in a critical condition at a local hospital, Reuters reported.

The incident follows rumours that the vaccine had made children sick in other parts of Pakistan. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Assistant Commissioner Syed Sami Agha told reporters that the incident occurred in an area near the border with Afghanistan, Dawn reported. Security forces have cordoned off the crime scene and launched a search for the accused who fled after opening fire.

The vaccination campaign that aimed to administer the anti-polio vaccine to more than 2.5 million children in Balochistan has been suspended in Chaman.

The attack is the latest among several targeting the anti-polio vaccination campaign in the country, Dawn reported. On April 8, suspected militants killed a polio official associated with the World Health Organisation in Ghazi Baig. Unidentified gunmen had shot dead a police official deployed in Bannu for the security of immunisation workers on Tuesday.

In 2018, 12 cases of wild polio virus were reported in the country, Dawn reported.