Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban commander who they suspected was involved in the murder of four women aid workers in the country's northwest, the army said on February 24.
Militant commander Hassan Khan, who also went by the name of Sajna, was killed during a gunfight on February 23 after soldiers raided a hideout in the village of Mir Ali in North Waziristan district along the Afghan border, the army said in a statement.
The four women aid workers were ambushed by two gunmen on February 22 as they were driving through the village.
"Hassan alias Sajna was involved in [the] killing of four women workers yesterday in Mir Ali," the statement said, adding that he was a local commander of a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban.
"The killed terrorist remained involved in terrorist activities against Security Forces & peaceful civilians including IED attacks, kidnapping for ransom, target killing, extortion and also involved in recruiting terrorists," it said.
Local police chief Shafiullah Gandapur said the four aid workers were affiliated with a program run by a local institute to develop household skills for women.
Attacks have decreased in recent years following several military campaigns against homegrown and foreign militants in the country's northwest.
But militant groups are still able to carry out sporadic, isolated assaults.
