LADDHA/KHAR, July 5: Unidentified armed persons shot dead a militant commander along with his aide in Kalosha village of South Waziristan Agency in the small hours of Thursday.

Sources said that Wali Mohammad, brother of Taliban commander Nek Mohammad, along with his aide was asleep in the apple farm of his uncle when two armed persons sneaked into the orchard and opened firing on them. Wali Mohammad and his friend, whose name couldn’t be ascertained, were killed on the spot, they added.

Wali Mohammad and few other militant commanders including Omar, Abbas and Ghulam Khan had been expelled from Wana, the agency headquarters of South Waziristan, along with foreign militants about five years ago.

However, they returned to Wana about one year ago after making reconciliation with militant commanders of Maulvi Nazir group.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident. However, sources said that the incident could be result of differences amongst militant groups or personnel enmity.

It may be recalled that Nek Mohammad was killed in a US drone attack in 2005 in Wana along with five key foreign militant commanders.

Meanwhile, Bajaur Agency Political Agent Syed Abdul Jabar Shah on Thursday urged the tribesmen to fulfil their collective responsibilities to check militant activities in their area.

Addressing a jirga of Salarzai tribesmen, he said that security forces and tribal people rendered sacrifices to eliminate militants from the agency.

He said that peace and writ of the government in the region had been restored with the efforts of security forces and tribal elders but it didn’t mean that militants had been eliminated completely.

He said that action would be taken against the tribe concerned if any public property was attacked in its area.

Commandant Bajaur Scouts Col Shakeel also addressed the jirga and said Salarzai tribe rendered great sacrifices for restoration of peace but the recent militant activities in the area put negative impact on its performance.