Pakistan ? A suspected U.S. missile strike targeted two areas in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghanistan border Thursday, killing at least nine people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Also on Thursday, bombings targeting police killed 10 people and wounded 14 in Pakistan’s volatile northwest and the capital – reminders of the challenge facing the country as its lawmakers pursue a national anti-terror consensus.

The alleged missile strikes appeared to be part of a surge in U.S. cross border assaults from Afghanistan on alleged militant targets in Pakistan, which have strained ties between the two anti-terror allies.