Pro-government elder killed in Pakistan shooting

MIRANSHAH: Gunmen shot dead a pro-government tribal elder and two others Thursday in a drive-by shooting in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.
The Chashma Pul area, five kilometers (miles) south of Miranshah — the main town in North Waziristan — is known as a stronghold of Taleban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
“Malik Qadir Khan was traveling to his village when four gunmen riding a car opened fire on his vehicle killing him and two others,” a local administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He said Khan’s guard opened retaliatory fire, killing one of the attackers before fleeing.
A local intelligence official confirmed the attack.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility but attacks on pro-government tribal elders by militants across northwest Pakistan and the lawless tribal belt are not uncommon. Washington calls the area the most dangerous place in the world.
The latest attack comes two weeks after the Pakistani Taleban formally ended a cease-fire called to promote peace talks.