According to accounts by the journalists travelling in the van, provided by the government, they were in the town of Wana barely 50 yards from the army's regional headquarters and near official buildings protected by security forces around 7 pm when a car overtook them and two persons, one in the front seat and one at the back, pulled out AK-47 assault rifles and opened fire at them. Wazir died on the spot by taking a shot on the head while Khan also died soon after being hit in the neck. The attack happened in the view of the paramilitary post whose security persons made no move to stop the assailants who kept firing for a while before moving away at a normal speed. It was some time before the tribal militia and some students of a nearby seminary rushed to help them and take the injured to a hospital. Lt Gen Safdar Hussain, the leader of the military operations in the tribal areas against Al Qaeda and Taliban activists and supporters, announced to pay the families of the slain reporters Rs 250,000 ($4,000) each and promised to find and punish the attackers. Governor North West Frontier Province , Lt Gen Iftikhar Hussain, as well as Federal Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, made the same promises but no arrests have been made.