2 militants blow themselves up in Orakzai

KHAR (AFP) - A key anti-Taliban elder in Bajaur Agency was shot dead and his bullet-riddled body found dumped on a roadside on Wednesday, officials said.
The bullet-riddled body of Taj Mohammad, 38, an anti-Taliban elder of the Salarzai tribe, was found by a road in a village in Bajaur.
He had been shot with an automatic weapon and a note from the Taliban said anyone working against them would be killed in the same manner, said local administration official Faramosh Khan. Residents said the Taliban kidnapped Taj along with five other people a few days ago. The fate of the others remains unknown.
He was the second Salarzai elder found dead since Saturday, when the beheaded body of a key member of the tribe was found in the same village of Mamund with a similar warning note from the militants.
Local security officials confirmed the incident, saying Taliban insurgents want to scare the local population away from supporting army operations. Elsewhere in the tribal belt, two militants blew themselves up in their car in a failed bomb plot in the district of Orakzai late Tuesday.
An explosives-packed vehicle blew up accidentally killing two militants aboard late on Tuesday, said top local administration official Riaz Mehsud.
He said police suspected the men were trying to reach an unknown target when the car blew up about 13 kilometres northwest of Kalaya town.