Militants armed with rockets and hand grenades attacked the house of a prominent anti-Taliban elder in the Minzari Chinaa area, 90 kilometres (55 miles) northwest of Ghalanai, the main town in the district of Mohmand on Friday, killing three people, officials said.
The attack came with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Pakistan for a fresh round of talks demanding that Islamabad dismantle Taliban safe havens in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border.
“A group of 45 militants attacked the house of Noor Mohammad, who heads the local peace committee, with hand grenades and rockets, killing his two sons and a daughter-in-law,” local official Javed Khan said.
Mohammad had been threatened by militants for some time, but escaped unhurt, he added. Intelligence officials said militants fled after the attack.
In the neighbouring tribal district of Bajaur, at least three gunmen shot dead a member of a local peace committee in Chinar, 45 kilometres northeast of Bajaur’s main town of Khar late Thursday, a local official said.