KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A government official says suspected militants have killed three anti-Taliban tribal elders tasked with protecting their areas from insurgents in northwestern Pakistan.
Two elders also were wounded in the overnight shootout in the Bazai area of Mohmand tribal region near Afghanistan.
Pakistan has encouraged tribal leaders to form anti-Taliban militias in Mohmand and other tribal regions.
Militants have in turn killed scores of tribal elders.
A government administrator Javed Khan said Wednesday that the shootout occurred at a checkpoint set up along a road. The alleged insurgents fired on the tribesmen when they were asked to halt.
