Gunmen shot dead a mid-level Pakistani Taliban commander in the lawless northwestern tribal belt on the Afghan border on Monday, security officials said. Pakistani officials said they were not aware of the motive for the killing but intelligence officers said it could be a result of internal differences within the Islamic militant group. Shakirullah Shakir, 45, was riding a motorcycle in the Kutab Khel area, just east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, when he was mowed down. “Gunmen sprayed bullets at his passing motorcycle and Shakirullah was killed on the spot,” a security official in Miranshah told AFP, requesting anonymity. Government officials said they were not aware of a bounty out for Shakirullah, described as a mid-level commander, but said he was believed to be important because of his affiliation with a wing of Taliban suicide bombers called Fidayeen-e-Islam.
