Nine killed in NWA militant infighting

SHAWAL: At least nine militants were killed in an armed clash between two factions of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in North Waziritan tribal region, Geo News reported Tuesday.

Official sources said that the clash took place between Khan Said Sajna and Sheryar Mehsud group of the TTP.

AFP adds:
At least 12 militants died during a shootout between rival factions in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border Tuesday, officials said, while two died in a separate attack.

Supporters of Tehreek-e-Taliban commander Khan Said Sajna and followers of the late TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud clashed in the Shawal area of the troubled North Waziristan district, a security official told AFP.

Four other militants were wounded during the gunfight which was still continuing, the official said late Tuesday.

Local intelligence officials and militant sources confirmed the clash and casualties.Earlier in the day two militants were killed in a bomb blast at a bazaar in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, known as a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.

"It was a remote control bomb which targeted Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants. Two of them have been killed and two others are injured," an intelligence official told AFP.

A militant source confirmed the attack, and said that those killed were members of the main faction of the TTP, headed by warlord Mullah Fazlullah.