Pro-govt Tribal leader, 4 others killed

WANA—Suspected militants shot dead a pro-government tribal elder, while separately three others were gunned down in North Waziristan, officials said on Sunday.
Malik Wali Zar, a member of a government-sponsored committee working on expulsions of foreign pro-Taliban militants, was shot dead at Inzar village in South Waziristan tribal district, a security official said.
Zar was returning home from here after attending a meeting, when he was snatched from a passenger van by masked gunmen and shot dead, a security official told.
Several tribal elders have been murdered this year for supporting Pakistan’s campaign against al-Qaeda. Separately, unidentified gunmen shot dead three tribesmen in neighboring North Waziristan tribal district, another security official said.
The three were hauled from a van in Dangeen village, of North Waziristan, and shot dead. The attackers then fled in a waiting car, he said. It was not immediately clear whether pro-Taliban militants were behind the attack, the official said, adding an investigation had been launched.—Agencies