ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The bodies of 22 members of a government-sponsored peace committee were found dumped near South Waziristan on Wednesday after fighting broke out between the Pakistani Taliban and a rival tribe, government officials said.
The peace committee was attacked by supporters of Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, in the town of Jandola on Monday, not far from the Afghan border, said Berkatullah Marwat, the district coordinating officer.
Some of the 22 bodies had bullet wounds, and others had been slashed with knives, Marwat said.
The killings come after the Pakistani army negotiated a cease-fire with Mehsud’s forces earlier this year, and pulled its soldiers back from Mehsud’s territory in South Waziristan. Under the terms of the accord, the military has exchanged prisoners with Mehsud’s forces.
The movement of Mehsud’s Taliban fighters into Jandola and the murders of the peace- committee members from the rival Bhittani tribe were likely to raise questions about the accord between the army and the Taliban.
In addition to the 22 peace-committee members found dead, 15 men from the Bhittani tribe and three militants were killed, Marwat said.
