By Xinhua
Islamabad : Suspected militants killed eight members of a tribal peace jirga (council) in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region, the army said Monday.
The attacks were carried out Sunday at two different places on the jirga members who were scheduled to hold their peace council meeting in Tank, a city on the edge of South Waziristan.
“Miscreants fired at peace committee offices in Wana Bazar and Shikai, both in South Waziristan. Eight members of the committee, three in Wana Bazar and five in Shika, died,” the army said in a statement.
Five people were injured in the attacks, local tribesmen said, for which no group claimed responsibility.
Locals said that the authorities had convened a jirga of the major Mehsood tribe to seek their support against the militants.
The army has been fighting militants in South Waziristan and there are reports that a major operation is being planned against Baitullah Mehsood, a militant leader who is suspected to have link with Al Qaeda and Taliban.
The Pakistani government has accused Mehsood of masterminding the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, though he has denied the charge repeatedly and strenuously.