PAKISTAN: CLERIC KILLED IN SOUTH WAZIRISTAN

Wana, South Waziristan, 23 March (AKI/DAWN) - In ongoing violence in the tribal area of South Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, a pro-government cleric has been killed by gunmen and a telephone exchange blown up. Witnesses told the Pakistan daily Dawn that the car of Maulana Sibghatullah was ambushed at Laddah on Wednesday by masked men who killed the cleric and abducted the three people travelling with him. Maulana Sibghatullah had in the past been associated with the Taliban but had since dissociated himself from Taliban militants, who are seeking to rebuild their power base in the mountainous Waziristan region.

The telephone exchange at Shakai was blown up cutting the town's communications with the rest of the country.

Officials said that the explosive device planted by militants had damaged the exchange building, line cable, power antenna and transformer. No one was injured in the blast.