A roadside bomb killed six Taliban militants, including a prominent local commander, in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, an attack that could have been motivated by tensions between different insurgent groups.

The bomb was detonated by remote control as Hakim Khan and five lower ranking militants were driving through the town of Marindy in the Kurram tribal region, said Jamil Khan, a local administrator. The commander who was killed was suspected of attacking Pakistani troops and kidnapping people for ransom, he said.

It was unclear who carried out the attack, but rivalries between different groups of fighters in northwestern Pakistan sometimes escalate into violence.

The slain commander was from Kurram but had close ties to the Pakistani Taliban, an umbrella group of militants that is based in nearby North and South Waziristan and has declared war on the Pakistani state, Khan said.

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Soldiers took parts of Orakzai, a district of forested mountains where the Taliban regrouped after their ouster from Waziristan. With the fighting in Orakzai, the army has fought major operations in six of the seven tribal districts, called agencies, along the Afghan border.

“Operations are ongoing in South Waziristan, Khyber and Orakzai,” army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said in an interview. “But in all regions where we get information about militants, the military will take action.”

Despite government's claim to have taken control of South Waziristan tribal region, the displaced families from the area are reluctant to go back to their homes, saying they will not return without absolute peace and unless the political administration re-establishes its writ in the region.  

...On the other hand, the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP*) had recently warned the tribal people not to return to their houses unless they push out the army from the area.

"We have launched the offensive against the military and as long as we do not defeat them, no one should think of coming back to the area," TTP spokesman Azam Tariq announced few days back.