Seven police officials guarding polio workers were killed in two separate attacks in Orangi Town Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

DIG West Feroz Shah told that eight gunmen riding four motorcycles carried out the killings in two separate attacks in the neighbourhood.

“The gunmen first opened fire on three policemen in the streets of Orangi Town, killing them all,” he said, adding: “Later they shot dead four policemen, who were sitting in a police mobile van” a few streets away.

“The first incident happened while the police was escorting the polio team,” Shah said.

“A policeman intervened when eight men on four motorcycles came and asked a polio worker for his name. In response, the men opened fire. Although the police fired in response, they were overpowered,” he said.

“The same men killed four members of another police team.”

Abdul Kareem, an official at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the bodies were taken, also confirmed the casualties.

There are no reports of injuries or deaths of polio workers.

The anti-polio campaign in the area was suspended immediately and heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies, including paramilitary Rangers, cordoned off the area.