Militia leader among six killed in Pakistan, body set on fire

Gunmen shot dead a pro-government militia leader and five of his associates in a car in Pakistan's northwest border region. Their bodies were also burned after the killing, a top official in the country told AFP on Thursday (October 23).

The gunmen opened fire on the militia members, then poured fuel on their car and set it on fire, the senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said the attackers did this to spread panic, which completely burned the bodies of the six people.

The attack took place on Wednesday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a province that has seen an increase in violence since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, the Khaleej Times reported. However, the official said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had been demanding ransom money from the militia leader. He was killed in retaliation for his refusal to pay.

Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of harboring the TTP and allowing it to launch attacks across the border, an allegation Kabul has denied.

Following this, the two sides exchanged fire after Islamabad's attack on Kabul on October 9. As a result, the border was closed. Many soldiers and civilians on both sides were killed in the clashes.