PESHAWAR: A former Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) MNA and leading Mehsud tribe member who had played the part of a peace broker between the government and the Taliban, Maulana Mirajuddin, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near South Waziristan, officials said on Thursday.“Two gunmen riding a motorcycle shot and killed Maulana Mirajuddin as he was returning from morning prayers on the outskirts of Tank... the attackers fled the scene after shooting the leader,' police sources told Daily Times by phone from Tank.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the killing, however, a JUI-F leader said the Taliban was not responsible for murdering Mirajuddin. “It was not the Taliban, however the government may have been responsible for the killing,' Maulana Niaz Ali Shah, the JUI-F information secretary in the Mehsud areas of South Waziristan, told reporters.