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Khar: Pakistani authorities on Friday found the body of a paramilitary soldier beheaded by Taliban insurgents in a tribal area where a suspected US missile strike left 12 people dead, an official said.
A note left on the body said the soldier had been killed as a revenge for Wednesday's missile massacre in Damadola village in Bajaur tribal district near the Afghan border.
The soldier was kidnapped overnight and his decapitated body dumped on the roadside some eight kilometers from a paramilitary post near the main town of Khar, local official Mowaz Khan said.
"This is our revenge for the US missile attack," the note signed by militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, said.
Militants in the troubled semi-autonomous region have in the past kidnapped and killed soldiers, officials and pro-government figures, accused of working with the Americans, as part of a campaign to maintain their stronghold.
The suspected US attack came as militants are negotiating a deal with the new Pakistani government, which came to power after the defeat of US ally President Pervez Musharraf's supporters in February elections.
Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar on Thursday blamed the United States for carrying out the missile strike and vowed to avenge the attack, which killed at least 12.
A senior security official said two houses belonging to local Taliban militant leaders Maulvi Hasan and Maulvi Taj were the target of the attack, which destroyed the buildings.
Foreign ministry officials in Islamabad said Thursday the authorities were investigating what caused the Damadola explosion.
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