LADHA, Pakistan – Two masked gunmen opened fire on an intelligence officer in a remote northwestern tribal region of Pakistan on Thursday, killing him before fleeing, a local government official said.

Maqsood Hussain said the slain officer, Mohammed Sarwar Khattak, was traveling on his motorcycle in Meer Ali, a town in North Waziristan, when he was shot.

He said officers were investigating who was behind the attack.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and has deployed thousands of troops and scores of intelligence agents in the region to trace and capture foreign militants and their local supporters.