Police escort of polio workers killed in northern Pakistan

"Health workers administering polio vaccinations to children came under attack in northern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing their police escort, authorities said," CNN reports. "Two women administering the shots entered a house on the outskirts of Mardan when two assailants on a motorbike opened fire on them, according to Danishwar Khan, a local police official," the news agency writes, noting, "The women were not injured" (Khan, 2/26). "No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. In December, gunmen killed nine polio workers in similar attacks across Pakistan," according to the Associated Press (Khan, 2/26). "Along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is still endemic," BBC News notes (2/26).