WANA, Oct 5: Gunmen kidnapped and shot dead a pro-government elder in a tribal area near the Afghan border, where security forces are hunting militants, officials said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Alam was dragged into a car late on Tuesday as he walked through Sararogha village, some 40km northeast of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan region, a local administration official told AFP.

His body was found on Wednesday, the official added.

It was not immediately clear who shot Alam, but similar killings recently have been blamed on insurgents with suspected links to Al Qaeda who crossed from Afghanistan after the fall of the regime in late 2001.

Last year Pakistani forces fought pitched battles against insurgents in South Waziristan. Hundreds of rebels and more than 250 soldiers died.—AFP