Gunmen kill senior Pakistani Taliban commander

Unidentified gunmen yesterday killed a senior commander of the Pakistani Taliban who had a government bounty on his head. Asmatullah Shaheen, a former interim chief of the militant group was ambushed in Dargah Mandi village near Miranshah, the main town of the troubled North Waziristan tribal district. "Unknown attackers opened fire on Asmatullah Shaheen's car. He along with three associates died on the spot," a security official in Miranshah said. The attackers fled the scene in a separate vehicle, the security official said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killing but a local security official blamed a rival militant group.
Earlier this month, Pakistan entered into talks with the Taliban aimed at ending their seven-year insurgency. But the militant group continued carrying out attacks on a near-daily basis.