BANNU, Sept 28 Chief of Bakakhel Peace Committee Maulana Abdul Hakim and his three colleagues were killed and a woman passerby was injured when his car was hit by an explosives-laden vehicle in Bannu Frontier Region on Monday.

The explosives on the car were detonated by a remote control.

Maulana Hakim was going to Mandi Bakakhel along with the three people when the vehicle was hit on Khaisore Road along the Tochi River.

The Maulana and his colleagues died on the spot.

According to some witnesses it was a suicide attack. The Maulana's companions were identified as Noor Aslam alias Lalay, Dost and Afsar Ali. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

AFP Adds Maulana Hakeem was a prominent anti-Taliban tribal elder and local religious leader, and had recently issued a decree against the suicide bombing tactics increasingly employed by Taliban insurgents.

“He had issued a decree against suicide bombing and the Taliban were not happy with him,” Mohammad Iqbal Marwat, police chief of Bannu district, told AFP.