ISLAMABAD, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Two health workers affiliated with Pakistan's anti-polio campaign were abducted by unidentified gunmen in the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said Tuesday.

The incident occurred in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district, where armed men intercepted a passenger bus en route to Dera Ismail Khan and forcibly took the two workers -- Raz Muhammad and Muhammad Asif -- to an unknown location, a local police official told Xinhua.

The victims were returning from official duties related to the country's polio eradication campaign, police said.

Law enforcement agencies have launched a search and rescue operation in the area. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers have frequently been targeted in attacks, particularly in the northwest and southwest regions. Enditem

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