"... US soldiers are not supposed to conduct military operations alongside the Frontier Corps units ..."

In the Long war Journal/ here

"... The Taliban immediately called in after the blast to take credit. According to Dawn, Tariq Azam, the top spokesman for the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, said by telephone from an undisclosed location: "We claim responsibility for the blast." He also attempted to link the dead US soldiers to the security company formerly called Blackwater, alleging that the soldiers were members of the company and that the company was "responsible for bomb blasts in Peshawar and other Pakistani cities."

"We have warned we will take revenge and today we have avenged the deaths of innocent people," Azam continued.

According to a Pakistani journalist traveling in the convoy, the US soldiers were dressed in civilian clothes and "Pakistani military guides referred to the foreigners traveling with them as journalists," The Associated Press reported.

The US military has deployed Special Forces and other soldiers to serve as trainers to the Frontier Corps, the locally raised paramilitary organization that is on the front lines against the Taliban. The deployment of US soldiers in Pakistan has been a controversial issue, and the soldiers are not supposed to conduct military operations alongside the Frontier Corps units.

Last year, the Pakistani Army and the Frontier Corps carried out a military operation in Dir and neighboring Swat to dislodge the Taliban. The operation began in May 2009. In the fall, the Pakistani military claimed to have defeated the Taliban in Swat and Dir, but the military is still conducting sweeps in the region."