Taliban kill tribal elder, wife and son

KHAR: Taliban armed with rockets and grenades stormed the home of a pro-government tribal elder on Thursday, killing him, his wife and son before blowing up their house, officials said.

The pre-dawn killings took place in Asghar village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Khar, the main town in tribal district of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan.

"Malik tur Mulla, his wife and a son died in the attack while one women was wounded," Irshad Khan, a local administrative official in the area, told AFP by telephone. His son had been 22 years old, Khan said.

Mulla, 52, raised an anti-Taliban militia in the Chaharmang valley and returned home last year after the army claimed the area was secure following prolonged fighting designed to crush militant sanctuaries.

"Taliban militants attacked the house. First they fired rockets and hurled hand grenades. Then they entered. They killed Malik and his family with Kalashinkovs," Jamil Khan, a local government official, told AFP by telephone.

Two intelligence officials described Mulla as an active tribal elder in the area who supported military operations against the Taliban in Bajaur.

Pakistan Army launched operations in the district in August 2008 and has claimed several times to have eliminated the militant threat.