Clerics refused to lead funeral prayer of slain TTP commander in Pakistan's northwest

Minhaj, a TTP commander, was killed in clashes with security forces in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last week, officials said.

Peshawar: The clerics in Pakistan's restive northwest have refused to lead the funeral prayer of a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant commander killed in clashes with security forces, officials said on Sunday.

Minhaj, a TTP commander, was killed in clashes with security forces in the Shawal area of the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last week, they said.

The clerics in South Waziristan on Saturday refused to lead his funeral prayer, saying they would not offer the prayer for a man responsible for the killings of innocent people and fighting against the state, officials said.

The militant was quietly buried by locals in the Nargisai graveyard of Azam Warsak in South Waziristan, with only a small group of 10 to 20 people in attendance.

This was something unusual in the Waziristan district when Ulema refused to lead the funeral prayer of a terrorist, said a tribal elder.

"This is the fate of those who opposed the state," he added.