The commander of a pro-Al Qaeda militia in Pakistan who has sheltered foreign Al-Qaeda fighters in the country was killed on Thursday by a roadside bomb.

Ghulam Jan Wazir died on the spot when his vehicle hit the bomb in the Sholam area, five kilometres (three miles) west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan district on the Afghan border according to Fox News.

Four of Wazir’s associates were killed with him, according to security officials.

A senior security official said Wazir had been sheltering foreign Al Qaeda terrorists from Arab and Central Asian countries in South Waziristan.

“He was anti-government and well known for his support to foreigners,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Local residents also claimed Wazir had a reputation for harboring Uzbek, Tajik and Central Asian terrorists.

Wazir was among a group of fighters forced to leave South Waziristan when Maulvi Nazir, a prominent pro-government warlord, launched an armed campaign in 2007 against foreign fighters.

Wazir returned to South Waziristan last year after reaching a deal with the Nazir group, before Nazir was himself killed in a US drone strike in January.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wazir’s death.

He is the third pro Al-Qaeda commander killed in similar circumstances in South Waziristan over the last two years.