A tribal leader from North Waziristan Agency (NWA) and two aides were killed in an incident of targeted killing that took place on Thursday near Miranshah.
According to a report, Malik Qadar Khan was travelling to Bannu with his aides when his vehicle was ambushed near Chashma Bridge by unidentified armed men.
The chief and two aides were killed on the spot as a result of indiscriminate firing by the assailants.
So far no one has claimed responsibility for the incident. Officials have not yet issued any statement in this respect.
Khan was considered a leading elder all over the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA). He had represented tribesmen in jirgas, meetings with various high-ranked officials and a team of tribal leaders in a joint Pakistan Afghanistan Jirga held in 2007 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Later he became a member of a joint jirga.
The incident may cause the termination of dialogues between the government and the taliban.