Tribal elder killed, six injured in SWA explosion

WANA: A tribal elder was killed and six elders sustained injuries when a mortar shell fired from an unknown location struck a jirga convened to settle a mountain ownership dispute between two tribes in Wana in South Waziristan Agency, official sources said.

There had been a mountain ownership dispute between the two sub clans of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe including Karkeykhel and Dottani since long. The dispute intensified as the members of the two tribes took positions and traded fire the previous day in which a tribesman was killed and five others sustained injuries.

The political administration of South Waziristan had formed a jirga comprising tribal elders under the supervision of Malik Behram Khan Wazir to hold negotiations with the representatives of the rival tribes and settle the dispute.

The jirga members had gone to meet the representatives of the two tribes when a mortar shell fired from an unknown location landed nearby in Cheenakho area. As a result of the attack, Malik Behram Khan Wazir was killed on the spot while six other elders sustained injuries in the incident.

The injured were shifted to the Type-D Hospital in Toi Khula and the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Wana, the administrative headquarters of South Waziristan Agency.