Unknown attackers yesterday shot dead a senior commander of the Pakistani Taliban who had a government bounty on his head, officials said, with the killing blamed on internal rivalries.

Asmatullah Shaheen, who was believed to be in his mid-40s and was a former interim chief of the militant group, had a Rs10mn bounty payable for his death.

He was ambushed in Dargah Mandi village near Miranshah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district.

Despite his seniority, Shaheen was a highly controversial figure within the Pakistani Taliban.

Observers do not believe his death will have a major impact on the future of stalled peace talks with the government that began this month.

“Unknown attackers opened fire on Asmatullah Shaheen’s car. He along with three associates died on the spot,” a security official in Miranshah told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A close relative of Shaheen told AFP that in addition to those killed, two other people travelling in the car were critically wounded.

The attackers fled in a separate vehicle, the security official said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killing, but a local security official blamed a rival militant group.

Shaheen was leader of the Bhittani tribe and also chairman of the Taliban’s supreme council for more than two years.

But a militant source close to Shaheen told AFP he was removed from the post in December after developing differences with several militant commanders.

Shaheen gained notoriety after claiming responsibility for a suicide attack on a Shia procession in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, which killed 43 people and wounded more than 100 in December 2009.  

He was responsible for storming a paramilitary outpost in the northwestern district of Tank in 2011, killing one soldier and kidnapping 15. Eleven of the detainees were later executed while the rest escaped.

An intelligence official in Peshawar said Shaheen was also wanted for masterminding other attacks on Pakistan troops that included suicide attacks.