The Associated Press

Fri, May 16, 2008 (3:17 a.m.)

Suspected Islamic militants have killed a Pakistani soldier in revenge for an alleged U.S. missile strike near the Afghan border, an official said Friday.

Authorities found the bullet-riddled body of the paramilitary soldier early Friday about 6 miles north of Damadola, a village in the northwestern tribal region of Bajur.

An explosion destroyed a house in the village on Wednesday, killing about a dozen people. Residents and the provincial governor said it was caused by a missile.

Mawaz Khan, a government official in Bajur, said a letter found near the soldier's body said the soldier was killed by militants to avenge the alleged strike. The note included a warning for tribal elders that they would meet the same fate if they cooperate with Pakistani authorities.

"The killing of this soldier is our revenge for the American missile attack," Khan said, quoting from the letter.

The letter was issued in the name of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group whose deputy leader has threatened to target Americans to avenge the strike.

However, a spokesman for the group has said it would continue with peace negotiations opened by the new Pakistani government.

Bajur-based TTP deputy leader Faqir Mohammed is considered an associate of al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, who escaped a similar air strike, apparently executed by a CIA drone, in the same village in 2006.

The number and identity of those killed in Wednesday's blast remains unclear. Residents said armed militants quickly sealed off the area and removed bodies.

Islamist parties, regional lawmakers and the governor of Pakistan's volatile North West Frontier Province have condemned the attack as a violation of the country's sovereignty.

Gov. Ovais Ahmed Ghani warned that it would undermine public support for Pakistan's efforts against terrorism. However, the federal government has made no public complaints and insisted the cause of the blast remains unclear. Pakistan's army refused comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad deferred comments to officials in Washington.

Western officials want any peace deal in Pakistan's tribal areas to help ensure that militants cannot use Pakistani territory to mount raids into Afghanistan or plot terrorist strikes further afield.