Pakistani Taliban kill ruling party leader

Pakistani Taliban killed a leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party near the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday.

PML-N leader Haji Sardar Mohmand came under attack in Yakatut area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Xinhua news agency reported citing police.

Police said they were investigating motives behind the attack. However, some police sources said it appeared to be a targeted killing.

Witnesses said Mohmand was critically injured in the firing and was shifted to the city's main Lady Reading Hospital where he died of wounds. Mohmand was the leader of the PML-N youth wing.

"The TTP's special unity STF successfully targeted the PML-N senior leader Haji Sardar Mohmand in Yakatut area of Peshawar today," TTP spokesman Mohammad Khorasani said, owning the responsibility for the killing.

"The PML-N is now on the TTP's hit list after the anti-Taliban Awami National Party," Khorasani said in a statement.

"We have now started targeting the PML-N leaders," he said.