Taliban leader shot dead

A TALIBAN faction leader who was seen as the chief rival to the militant group’s Pakistani head was fatally shot yesterday, reportedly by one of his own guards. The attack on Qari Zainuddin appeared to be a sign that divisions within the Taliban have broken into the open as they come under military assault.

The army is clearing out militants from the Swat Valley and has been pounding strongholds of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan in preparation for an offensive.

The tribal zone was also hammered by suspected US missile strikes, which targeted a purported Taliban training centre and then hours later hit a funeral procession for some of those killed in the earlier strike.