LADHA, Pakistan (AP) - Assailants killed five tribal elders who had helped Pakistan's army hunt for al-Qaida-linked militants in a remote, lawless region near the Afghan border, residents and officials said Friday. The elders were gunned down in three attacks in various parts of South Waziristan, a deeply conservative mountainous region run by local tribes, and only nominally ruled by Islamabad. | Time for a little "Dire Revenge". |
Officials have blamed Islamic militants in the region for previous attacks on pro-government elders in the country's tribal areas, where Pakistan has deployed more than 70,000 troops to trace and arrest al-Qaida-linked militants and their local supporters. At least 50 other elders have been killed after they started cooperating with the Pakistani army.
Tribal elder Malik Mir Zalim and four people with him were gunned down Friday on a road in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, said local resident Taj Hayyat. An intelligence official confirmed the killing on condition of anonymity, citing government rules about talking to the press. Elders Khandan Malik, Musa Khan and Hussain Malik were ambushed Friday in their car on a dirt road in Karwan Manza, a town 75 miles south of Wana, said local official Mohammed Khan.
Elder Taj Mohammed was gunned down late Thursday in Lalizhai, a South Waziristan village about 60 miles south of Wana, local official Mohammed Rasool said. The slain elder had helped forces in an operation against Abdullah Mehsud, a former U.S.-held prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba whose men kidnapped two Chinese engineers in October. Also Friday, three soldiers were injured when their vehicle hit a land mine in North Waziristan, officials said. |