ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani intelligence official Sultan Amir Tarar, famously known as Colonel Imam, died of a heart attack nearly a year after being kidnapped by militants, a senior government official said.

Tariq Hayat, the top official in Pakistan's northwest tribal region where Tarar was kidnapped last March, said Monday that authorities haven't seen the body but have received confirmation of his death.

Hayat said militants are asking for more than $200,000 to return Tarar's body.

Tarar, who helped the Taliban rise to power in Afghanistan, has worked for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and cultivated close ties with the Taliban.

His kidnapping reflects the complexity of Pakistan's tribal areas, where militants with alleged government ties and those fighting the state often coexist.