In-fighting?: Four ‘Taliban’ members killed in S Waziristan

Local TTP commander among the dead; no group claims responsibility.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN:

Four alleged Taliban militants, including a local commander, were killed, while another was injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire at their vehicle in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan Agency, an official of the political administration told The Express Tribune.

The incident occurred in the Shaga mountainous area of Shaktoi, close to the border with North Waziristan Agency. The militants were on way to the area from Miramshah, North Waziristan.

The Taliban commander targeted and killed was Kashida Mehsud, who was the Shaktoi commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and is said to be a close associate of slain TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, said officials.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the incident.

In a separate incident, in the Zar Milan area of South Waziristan, a man named Atiqur Rehman was kidnapped by armed men. Rehman, who happens to be the nephew of former provincial minister Sher Azam Wazir, had come to the area to hunt cranes.

Zar Milan is located in Toi Khulla tehsil of Wana sub-division of South Waziristan, close to the Zhob province of Balochistan. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and the political administration of South Waziristan says they are searching to find out cause and clue of his kidnapping.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2014.