Anti-Taliban Mayor Is Killed in Pakistan

[tekisui]

Source: NYT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A mayor who publicly opposed the Taliban was killed in a suicide bombing in a cattle market near the northern city of Peshawar on Sunday, officials said, in an apparent attempt to curtail grass-roots opposition to the militant group.

A Taliban spokesman, reached by telephone from Peshawar, said the group claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the village of Mattani and killed 12 people, including the mayor, Abdul Malik, according to the head of the Peshawar Police Department, Liaqat Khan.

Mr. Malik was central to the resistance against the Taliban in the area, and his death was a blow to government efforts to fight the militants. He raised a militia to keep the Taliban out of his district, Adazai, which is close to areas where the Taliban dominate.

“It’s a big loss,” said a police official in the area. “He was really a linchpin in resisting the spread of Taliban in the area; he was a very important figure,” added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with reporters.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/world/asia/09pstan.html