Militants kill Pakistan official in restive region

TANK, Pakistan (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist militants
shot dead a government official after breaking into his house
on Sunday, the latest such killing in the troubled South
Waziristan tribal region, officials said.

The killings of pro-government tribesmen and officials have
become common in Waziristan region, near the Afghan border,
where security forces are fighting al Qaeda and Taliban
remnants and their local sympathisers. Hundreds of militants,
soldiers as well as civilians have been killed in these
clashes.

Attackers broke into the house of the official, Sultan Khan
Mehsud, and opened fire and killed him after overpowering four
guards posted at the house in Jandola town.

A local intelligence official said Mehsud had received
threats from militants for collecting government taxes in the
area.

Many al Qaeda militants and their Taliban allies found
sanctuaries in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt,
inhabited by conservative Pashtun tribes, after fleeing the
U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan following the September 11
attacks on the United States in 2001.

Last month, four tribesmen were beheaded by militants
because they were believed to be acting as informers for
Pakistani forces and Americans across the border in
Afghanistan.