July 22, 2008	Tuesday	Rajab 18, 1429

KHAR, July 21: Malak Shahjehan Khan, a prominent pro-government tribal leader and chief of the Mamond tribe, was killed and three other people were injured in an ambush near Shandi More, about one kilometre from here, on Monday.

According to a political administration official, Malak Shahjehan and tribal leader Malak Mohammad Ayaz were going to Peshawar to attend a meeting with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.

Near Shandi More their car came under attack and they were seriously injured. They were rushed to the Khar’s agency headquarter hospital where Malak Shahjehan died. Malak Ayaz and driver Bismillah Khan were shifted to Peshawar in critical condition.

A passerby also suffered injuries in the attack.

The guard of the tribal leaders fired back on the assailants but they managed to escape.

Officials found a white car in the area.

An eyewitness said four armed men had come in the white car at about 5am and they waited near the Jinnah Bus Terminal. They were seen frequently talking on cellphones, he said, adding that as soon as the car of tribal leaders appeared at about 8am, they opened fire and escaped.

The news of Malak Shahjehan’s murder soon reached the tribal region and his relatives and supporters thronged the hospital. He was buried in his ancestral graveyard at Larkhalzzo Mamond.

Malak Shahjehan escaped five attempts on his life over the past two years. He was against the presence of foreign militants in the Bajaur agency and openly supported the political administration.

He opposed the government’s plan to abolish or amend the British-era Frontier Crime Regulation and extension of the political parties act to the tribal areas.