Taleban fury as US strike kills 20

Published on Sunday 5 October 2008 22:44

THE Taleban response to an apparent US missile strike in Pakistan indicates a senior militant may be among 20 people killed.

The US has ramped up cross-border strikes that target alleged al-Qaeda and Taleban hideouts in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

In the case of Friday's alleged US strike in North Waziristan tribal region, which was believed to have killed several Arab fighters, government officials have been notably quiet.

The Taleban, however, were reportedly responding with fury.

Pakistani intelligence officials said insurgents are moving aggressively in the militant-plagued area and threatening local residents, calling them "saleable commodities" – a reference to people serving as spies.

The intelligence officials, whose information came from informants and field agents, said the anger was a sign that a senior militant may have died.

Two area residents said Taleban fighters warned people not to discuss the missile strike or inspect the rubble at the site.

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

Pakistan's chief army spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, said yesterday that at least 20 people died, eight of them foreign militants.

The US rarely acknowledges such attacks. Nathan Perry, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give", but did not deny US involvement.

Pakistan's fledgling civilian government says it will not duck the fight against militancy, but leaders also warn that US attacks in Pakistan inflame public opinion and undermine the fight against terrorism.