– TALIBAN OPPONENT QARI ZAINUDDIN KILLED

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A tribal leader Qari  Zainuddin, 26, who opposed the head of the Tehrik-e-Taleban in Pakistan has been shot dead in the North-Western Pakistani town of Dera-Ismail Khan, police said.

An aide of Qari  Zainuddin, who was also wounded in the attack said a guard entered the room at Zainuddin’s office after morning prayers and opened fire, on Tuesday 06/23/2009 morning.

Qari  Zainuddin often criticized Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud. Earlier this month, Qari  Zainuddin hit out at Mehsud for recent attacks on a mosque which killed 33 people (see – Upper-Dir 06.05.09).

Separately, Pakistani intelligence officials say a USA drone aircraft UAV has carried out a missile strike in South Waziristan, in an area known as a stronghold of Mehsud. Officials say that casualties are feared in the attack.

The violence comes as the Pakistani army is preparing to launch a new offensive against Taliban fighters under Mehsud’s command.

Earlier this month a prominent Muslim cleric, Dr. Sarfaraz Naeemi, who was outspoken in his opposition to the Taliban was killed in a suicide blast at his seminary in Lahore.

 

 

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