PAKISTAN - THE Taleban are furious about the latest apparent US missile strike in Pakistan, indicating a senior militant may be among two dozen people killed, officials and residents said.

The US has ramped up cross-border strikes that target alleged Al-Qaeda and Taleban hideouts in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani leaders have often condemned such attacks as violations of their country's sovereignty.

In the case of Friday's alleged American strike in the North Waziristan tribal region, government officials have been notably quiet. The Taleban, however, were reportedly responding with fury.

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

The insurgents were moving aggressively in the militant-plagued area while using harsh language against local residents, including calling them 'salable commodities' - a reference to people serving as spies, two Pakistani intelligence officials said on Sunday.

The intelligence officials, whose information came from informants and field agents, said the anger was a sign that a senior militant may have died. But that has not been confirmed, said the officials, who sought anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to media.

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

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

The US rarely acknowledges such attacks. 1st Lieutenant Nathan Perry, a US military spokesman in Afghanistan, said on Sunday he had 'no information to give.' He did not deny US involvement.

Extremists based in Pakistan's border regions have been blamed for attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan and for violence inside Pakistan. -- AP