Senior Taliban militant said to have been killed

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By ASSOCIATED PRESS

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan | The Pakistani Taliban are furious about the latest apparent U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, indicating a senior militant may be among two dozen people killed, officials and residents said Sunday.

The attack Friday on the North Waziristan tribal region was thought to have killed several Arab fighters, but government officials have been notably quiet.

However, two Pakistani intelligence officials said insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against local residents, including calling them "salable commodities" - an accusation of spying.

The intelligence officials, who said their information came from informants and field agents, interpreted the Taliban's anger as a sign that a senior militant may have been among at least 24 people killed. But that has not been confirmed, said the officials, who sought anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the news media.

The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes that target purported al Qaeda and Taliban hide-outs in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani leaders have condemned the attacks as violations of their country's sovereignty.

Pakistan's chief army spokesman ,Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said at least 20 people died in the attack, eight of them foreign militants.

Two residents in the area targeted Friday said Taliban fighters warned people not to discuss the missile strike or inspect the rubble at the site. The residents requested anonymity for fear of Taliban retribution.

Taliban and top Pakistani government spokesmen variously could not be reached, did not return calls or declined to comment on the strike.

The U.S. rarely acknowledges cross-border attacks inside Pakistani territory by forces from Afghanistan. A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, did not deny U.S. involvement, but said he had "no information to give."

Extremists based in Pakistan's border regions have been blamed for attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan and for violence inside Pakistan. Al Qaeda leaders including Osama bin Laden are thought to be hiding somewhere in the lawless tribal regions along the border.

Just last month, a suicide truck bombing killed 54 people and severely damaged the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Pakistan's fledgling civilian government has tried to convince the population it cannot duck the fight against militancy. But leaders also warn that American attacks in Pakistan inflame public opinion against the West and undermine the fight against terrorism.

Pakistan has been carrying out its own operations against insurgents in the northwest.

Security forces on Sunday killed two reputed Taliban commanders in Swat, one of whom was thought to be affiliated with al Qaeda, said Maj. Nasir Ali, an army spokesman.

The military offensive in Bajur has earned praise from the U.S., but it has also prompted a mass exodus of civilians fleeing the fighting.

Many are in relief camps in Pakistan, but some 20,000 Pakistanis have crossed the border into eastern Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.