Former Taliban leader killed, say police

Gunmen riding on a motorcycle opened fire on a former regional Taliban leader in south-western Pakistan today, killing him before fleeing, police said.

Mullah Samad Barakzai, who was head of the Department for Promotion of Virtue And Prevention of Vice in southern Helmand province during the Taliban’s hardline rule, was standing near a seminary in Quetta when the assailants attacked him, said Qazi Abdul Wahid, an area police chief.

He said Barakzai, who is also known as Maulvi Yar Mohammed, had been living in Pakistan since the Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001 as a result of US-led attacks.

The man had also distanced himself from the Taliban and had become a supporter of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government, Wahid said.

“We have made no arrest, but it seems that he has been killed by Taliban,” Wahid said.