At least two policemen, who were escorting a polio vaccination team, died when armed men opened fire on them in Pakistan's Quetta region on Tuesday.

The attack took place on the first day of the week-long campaign launched in Balochistan to administer the polio vaccination to approximately 2.6 million children under five years of age.

Zarghoonabad Station House Officer (SHO) Asif Marwat confirmed the casualties to Dawn News. 

The deceased policemen were identified as constable Shaukat Ali and Syed Muhammad.

The SHO told the newspaper that members of the polio team did not sustain any injuries in the attack but added that the polio campaign in Nawa Killi and its surrounding areas had been suspended.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has sought a report on the incident from authorities.

“The negative propaganda against the polio campaign and the malicious intentions of the anti-state elements will be thwarted,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn News as he called for bringing the perpetrators under the law.