WANA, Jan 23: Suspected militants have killed a leader of a tribal peace committee who had survived at least three earlier attempts on his life.

Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Mehsud, senior vice-president of the tribal peace committee in Makeen in the South Waziristan Agency, was killed at his home in Tauda Cheena by two gunmen on Saturday.

"Two men came to see him. They had tea with him before shooting him," head of security in the tribal regions Brig Mahmood Shah told Dawn. "Apparently, the assailants were known to him. Otherwise, he would not have invited anyone into his home, especially when he knew that he was being targeted by militants," Shah said.

His family, Brig Shah said, did not know who the guests were and the identity of Mr Ibrahim's 'guests' remained a mystery. "It could be a targeted killing by militants. It may also be the result of some old enmity. We are investigating the matter," the secretary (security) in Fata said.

Mr Ibrahim sustained two bullet wounds and died on the spot. His funeral was attended by thousands of local tribesmen on Sunday. Three days of mourning will be observed in the Makeen area.

Late Ibrahim made it to the newspapers last week when he killed two Uzbek militants who had come to plant an anti-personnel mine outside his house. It was the third attempt on his life.

Foreign militants are widely believed to have been behind the killing of 19-year-old son of the secretary of the peace committee about a month ago and the brother of the president of the anti-militant group about two months ago.

The government had acknowledged the peace committee's good work and had awarded it Rs700,000 in recognition of its services. Local tribesmen said that foreign militants had been targeting leading figures of the committee whom they blamed for the capture of two of their comrades late last year.

Mr Ibrahim, they said, had been extra careful after three unsuccessful bids on his life but the killing of two Uzbek militants by him last week might have provoked them to avenge their deaths.