Gunmen shot dead a pro-government tribal elder and his son in a restive Pakistani region near the Afghan border.

Gunmen shot dead a pro-government tribal elder and his son in a restive Pakistani region near the Afghan border, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place in the area of Kitkoot, 32 kilometers northwest of Khar, the capital of Bajaur tribal region.

"Up to five gunmen entered a mosque after evening prayers on Wednesday and opened fire on the local pro-government tribal elder Malik Juma Gul and his son, killing them both on the spot," senior local administration official Abdul Haseeb Khan told AFP.

He said Gul's two bodyguards sustained serious injuries in the attack.

Another senior local official, Shah Naseem Khan, confirmed the deaths.
No group claimed responsibility, but Taliban militants have carried out such attacks in the past.

The incident came hours after gunmen ambushed a car of local pro-government fighters in Kooza Bandi village in the northwestern Swat Valley, and killed three people.