WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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US missile kills 13 in Pakistan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-05 09:18 The concentration of strikes in Waziristan was also pushing some militants eastwards, deeper into Pakistan, they say. Taliban leader Mehsud said Tuesday his group had carried out an assault on a police training center in the Pakistani city of Lahore in retaliation for US drone attacks. He vowed more attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States. Security analysts say Mehsud does not have the capacity to conduct attacks in the United Sates by himself but he is part of an al Qaeda-led network that does have global reach. Mehsud said that two men, one a Pakistani and the other a "foreigner," had carried out the shooting in the United States Friday. "I accept responsibility. They were my men. I gave them orders in reaction to US drone attacks," he said, adding one of the attackers had escaped and telephoned him. Pakistani analysts were skeptical. "It seems it's a move to boost his image. To me, it's just bluster and bluff," said Talat Masood, a retired general turned analyst. "It shows he's under tremendous pressure." Competition has intensified between Taliban factions in the northwest and the drone strikes are taking a toll, analysts say. Last month, the United States announced a $5 million reward for information leaded to Mehsud's location or arrest. "He doesn't have the capacity (to attack in the United States)," said defense analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.
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