Militants Kidnap, Kill Police in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan  Militants fired rockets at police chasing them after a kidnapping, killing a senior police official and five other people in Pakistan's northwest Sunday, a government official said.Elsewhere in the region, militants kidnapped 11 police officers in a tribal area that is home to a major U.S. military supply route and where a bomber recently killed dozens at a mosque, another official said.Parts of Pakistan's northwest — especially the lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan — are strongholds for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, and security forces stationed in the area are routinely targeted for kidnapping and killing.Cracking down on militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border is a major focus for President Barack Obama. In unveiling a new strategy for Afghanistan, Obama warned last week that for Americans, "this border region has become the most dangerous place in the world."The six deaths occurred in Balambat area of Lower Dir, a rough region just outside the semiautonomous tribal belt.A group of police officials, including the district police chief Khurshid Khan, were chasing militants suspected in the kidnapping of a local resident, said Syed Mohammed Javed, a high-ranking government official in the province.