The attackers targeted the house of Pir Attique Gilani, an influential tribal elder known for being anti-Taleban, in restive Tank district near the border with Afghanistan, district police officer Mumtaz Zareen told AFP.

He said it would be “premature to name elements behind the attack” in the village of Jatta Kallan, but other police officials said Gilani’s rivalry with local militants loyal to the Taleban could be a possible motive.

The cleric publishes a monthly newsletter from the southern city of Karachi, in which he has sharply criticised fighters from the extremist movement.

Six members of Gilani’s family were among the dead, but Gilani himself was not believed to have been killed, the officer said. Two others were wounded in the pre-dawn attack.

The town of Tank, home to about 100,000 people, was the scene of bloody clashes between Taleban militants and security forces early this month that left eight people dead.

It was placed under curfew last month amid violence triggered by the killing of a militant leader following attempts to recruit school students to fight in Afghanistan.

Witnesses said a group of attackers had stormed Gilani’s house and asked relatives about his whereabouts. When they did not find him, they launched the assault.

Officials said Gilani had survived an assassination bid in Tank last year. He later moved to Karachi but had recently moved back to the area, splitting his time between the two places.