Unidentified gunmen have killed four tribal elders in the remote North Waziristan tribal district.
Local residents and police told RFE/RL the elders were traveling by car in the town of Khaisoor in the Mir Ali area on November 30 when they were fired at from another vehicle.
The attackers fled the scene. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
North Waziristan police chief Shafiullah Gandapur said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
The targeted elders have been identified as Malik Noor Rehman, Malik Umar, Malik Mir Sady, and Malik Raza. All of them were from Khisoor.
North Waziristan, located in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, had been a militant stronghold until recent years.
Pakistani military officials claim their operations in North Waziristan have cleared the area of the Taliban fighters and other militant groups.
But local residents complain that targeted killings have increased over the past year, raising concerns of a return of the Taliban and other militants to the area.