The 25-year-old suspect, whom police named as Mir Ahmad Shah, was on the run after carrying out the pre-dawn attack with an AK-47 assault rifle in the Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

"He stormed the house and killed all ten family members while they were asleep," district police chief Shafiullah Khan told AFP, adding that two children and four women were among the dead.

Khan said Shah was already a fugitive wanted for the murder of his parents and two elder brothers last year. His family had refused to accept a demand by the father of his then-fiancee for a residential plot as a dowry settlement.

Gulzar Khan, another police official, said that after murdering members of his own direct family, Shah became enraged at his prospective in-laws for making the demand.

Shah was also the second cousin of his former fiancee, said Abdul Rashid, another senior police officer.

Police said they had launched an extensive search, raiding three of his suspected hideouts and tightening security at entry points to the neighbouring tribal region where he may try to seek shelter.

Marriages in Pakistan are usually arranged, and often take place between cousins. Brides' families sometimes demand a hefty dowry as a form of insurance in case the marriage ends in divorce.

Contrary to other societies, dowry in Islam is paid by the groom or his family to the bride at the time of marriage in the form of money or gifts. (*****)

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