Gunmen kill peace-broker in Tank

TANK Former MNA from NA-41, prominent tribal elder and religious scholar Maulana Miraj-ud-Din Qureshi was gunned down here on Thursday. According to police, Maulana Miraj was on his way back to home from mosque after offering Fajr prayer when some unknown armed persons came there on two motorcycles and opened indiscriminate fire at him. Resultantly, Miraj sustained critical head injuries and succumbed to his wounds when he was being shifted to a local hospital. No one has accepted the responsibility for the killing so far. Police registered a case against unknown persons and started investigation. The funeral prayer of the deceased was held at his native village Kot Murtaza at 5:00 pm on Thursday, which was attended by a large number of people. Reuters adds: Gunmen killed on Thursday a leading Islamic cleric who helped broker peace deals between the government and Taliban militants in Pakistans northwestern South Waziristan region, an aide and officials said. Two men driving on a motorbike sprayed bullets on Maulana Miraj as he was walking to his home after offering prayers in a nearby mosque, Niaz Mohammad Qureshi, an aide to Mirajuddin told Reuters. Neither Qureshi nor police official commented on who could be behind Mirajs murder. No one claimed responsibility for the killing. Militants have killed hundreds of tribal elders and government officials in Pakistans lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border over recent years. Many were killed on suspicion of spying. Pakistans army launched a major offensive in the militant stronghold of South Waziristan last October, killing hundreds of insurgents and destroying their major bases. Miraj was a former member of parliament and a senior member of Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam. He was instrumental in a peace deal between the government and Taliban in 2005. He was also a senior member of a committee of tribal elders that brokered a ceasefire between the government and Baitullah Mehsud, then Pakistani Taliban chief, in 2007. Mehsud was killed in a missile strike by US drone aircraft in South Waziristan last year.