WANA (South WAziristan), June 26: A soldier has shot dead two people including a former militant to avenge the death of his brother in a military operation against Al Qaeda-linked suspects last year, officials said Sunday.

Nur Janan opened fire late Saturday when a group of tribesmen was returning after playing a cricket match with a team of paramilitary soldiers here.

The firing left Nur Hassan and a 19-year old boy dead, political administration official Abbas Khan said.

He said Mr Hassan had surrendered after a former Taliban commander, Nek Mohammad, was killed in June last year after leading bloody resistance to the army’s largest-ever offensive to drive out Al Qaeda-linked militants in South Waziristan.

Mr Janan claimed that Mr Hassan was close to the slain Taliban commander. “I killed him to take revenge for my brother’s death,” he said.

Mr Janan’s brother was a paramilitary soldier who died in that operation.—AFP