By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPublished: JUNE 14, 2009 12:20Advertisement
A suspected US missile strike killed at least five people Sunday in a tribal region where Pakistan's top Taliban commander is based, intelligence officials said, breaking a lull in such attacks and posing a test for growing anti-Taliban sentiment in the country.
The strike came as violence raged elsewhere in the volatile northwest regions bordering Afghanistan: a bombing at a market killed at least eight people, while officials said ongoing clashes between the Taliban and security forces killed at least 20 militants in a tribal region supposedly cleared of insurgents months ago.
Local media have reported that the Taliban claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in Pakistan, including one that killed a moderate cleric, calling the assaults revenge for the army's offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley.
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