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Taliban upset over North Waziristan missile strike

* Officials say unusual anger hints at possible death of key member

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The Taliban are furious at the latest suspected United States missile strike in North Waziristan Agency, indicating that a top member may have died, officials and residents said on Sunday

The death toll from the attack was last put at 24. The US has ramped up cross-border strikes on alleged Al Qaeda and Taliban targets along Pakistan’s side of the border with Afghanistan, straining the two nations’ anti-terrorism alliance.

The frontier region is believed to be a possible hideout for Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahri. Several Arab terrorists were said to be among the dead in Friday’s attack.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend, two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miranshah. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the overall death toll was now 24.

Anger: Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared unusually perturbed over the latest attack. Their anger was a signal that a senior member may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, they said. The Taliban were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against local residents, including calling them ‘saleable commodities’ - a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said.

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

Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. Neither could Pakistani government and military spokesmen.

Earlier, Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated at least 20 people were killed. He said there was ‘speculation’ that many were foreigners, but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.

1st Lt Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had ‘no information to give’ about the reported attacks. He did not deny US involvement. ap

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