Anti-Taliban tribal leader killed in northwest Pakistan

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A leader of an anti-Taliban militia and head of the Darband Peace Committee,* Haji Hashim (Zaman) Khan, was killed in a roadside blast as he and his two colleagues were refueling their vehicle in the restive city of Hangu, officials reported yesterday. Haji Hashim led a faction of the 20,000-strong anti-Taliban lashkar (militia), the Aman Lashkar ("Peace Army"), which fiercely opposed the presence of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Islam in lower Arakzai and the Khyber Agency. In April, Hashim Khan and his militia helped Pakistani security forces clear most of lower Arakzai.

By Matt Dupee - LongWarJournal

December 2, 2011

A leader of an anti-Taliban militia and head of the Darband Peace Committee,* Haji Hashim (Zaman) Khan, was killed in a roadside blast as he and his two colleagues were refueling their vehicle in the restive city of Hangu, officials reported yesterday. Haji Hashim led a faction of the 20,000-strong anti-Taliban lashkar (militia), the Aman Lashkar ("Peace Army"), which fiercely opposed the presence of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Islam in lower Arakzai and the Khyber Agency. In April, Hashim Khan and his militia helped Pakistani security forces clear most of lower Arakzai.
Pakistani authorities and US-trained bomb disposal experts who investigated the blast determined that the bomb, consisting of the powerful explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), weighed approximately 400 grams. PETN is one of the most powerful military-grade plastic explosives available.
Officials speculate the assassins attached the explosive device to Hashim Khan's vehicle and then detonated it by remote control at a time of their choosing. Hashim Khan's vehicle exploded at a refueling station as he and his driver, Shah Habib, and a bodyguard, Shahnawa, were traveling to their headquarters in Babar Mela. Taliban fighters in Arakzai are key suspects in the attack.

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