Peshawar, Pakistan (CNSNews.com) - Taliban militants have vowed revenge against the United States after an apparent missile strike reportedly killed up to 14 people in Pakistan's restive tribal region.

Thousands of people, some chanting anti-U.S. slogans, attended funeral services Thursday in the Damadola area of the northwestern Bajaur tribal district that borders Afghanistan's Kunar province.

Reports in the U.S. citing unnamed officials said that among the dead was a high-value terrorist target, while Taliban representatives said the dead included women and children.

There was no comment from U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and the Pakistan foreign ministry in Islamabad said the explosion was under investigation.

But local tribesmen and representatives of religious political parties accused the U.S. of responsibility, saying the missile had been fired late Wednesday from a unmanned U.S. drone. A similar attack in 2006 reportedly targeted but missed al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

At a press conference in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Siraj ul-Haq, provincial president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, called the incident an assault on Pakistan's sovereignty and demanded that the U.S. ambassador be expelled.

"This is the third time that U.S. drones crossed into our space," he said. "In 2006 they killed 83 students of a religious seminary."

Haq said it was time for religious scholars to educate the people and call for jihad against "the aggressor."

The incident comes at a time when authorities have been attempting to negotiate peace deals with militant factions including the Pakistan Taliban Movement (TTP), an umbrella group set up under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud. The newly-elected central and provincial governments have vowed to pursue peace talks, saying the military option hasn't worked.

The U.S. government has taken a dim view of previous such agreements, including one struck between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and some militants in 2006. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte earlier this month reiterated that Washington expects "Pakistan's civilian and military leadership to be strong partners against violent extremists in Pakistan's frontier areas."

The U.S. says Taliban and al-Qaeda use Pakistan's lawless north-west as a base for attacks inside Afghanistan against Afghan, NATO and U.S. forces. Islamabad's official position is that it does not allow U.S. forces to operate on its territory.

TTP spokesman Moulvi Omar charged that the strike in Bajaur was an attempt to sabotage the peace process.

"We have realized that a hidden hand is behind the attack but it will not deter us from our talks with the government," he said, adding, "We will avenge the U.S. for this."

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister in the NWFP government, also condemned the attacks and vowed to continue with the negotiations, despite the hurdles.

Hussain said the provincial government was not negotiating with the Taliban in the interests of the U.S. but in order to put an end to the violence that followed U.S. military actions in Afghanistan after 9/11.

The surge of anti-American fervor could inflame an already volatile situation in NWFP and the neighboring tribal areas, where militant leaders are expected to exploit the sentiment for political ends.

Khalid Aziz, a political analyst and former chief secretary of NWFP, said the government faced a dilemma. It had to meet its commitments in the war against terror but at the same time needed to bring peace that it has so far failed to achieve through military means.

"The U.S. thinks that striking a peace deal with Taliban will put her interest at stake," he said. "Pakistan thinks that bringing militants to the negotiating table will curtail violence and help in re-establishing government authority in the tribal region."

Aziz said that the Taliban for ideological reasons would never tolerate the presence of U.S. troops, either in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

"The situation is really worrying. More attacks from across the border will lead to more violence and hence more militancy that is dangerous not only for Pakistan but also for Afghanistan and the U.S. forces fighting Taliban for the last six years," he said.

Make media inquiries or request an interview about this article.