Taliban 'master bomber' killed

A suicide bombing "mastermind" in the Pakistan Taliban has been gunned down and killed in the country's northeastern tribal region, just days after a major faction in the militant group announced it was breaking away over ideological differences, CNN reported. 

Gunmen riding in a car attacked Ashiqullah Mehsud, a senior commander in the leadership of the group known formally as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in the village of Urmuz in North Waziristan on Thursday before speeding off, sources told CNN.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, while the TTP has yet to issue a statement.

Mehsud was viewed as a successor to Qari Hussain Mehsud, the militant group's explosives expert whose notoriety includes allegedly recruiting children as suicide bombers.

Pakistani intelligence sources believe the incident is the result of internal rivalries between TTP factions.