Sitara-e-Shujaat, one of Pakistan's highest civilian awards for bravery, will be given to 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban last week for speaking out against the militants, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Tuesday.
At least 54 suspected militants belonging to a pro-Taliban outfit, including its spokesman, were killed on Wednesday when Pakistani fighter jets pounded their hideouts and troops clashed with the insurgents in the volatile northwest tribal region near the Afghan border.
The US also termed the release of Mumbai-terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed as "a step backward" in that direction.
Pakistan army retaliated to the deadly Taliban attack at Peshawar school by killing 5 militants in massive airstrikes in the Khyber tribal region where the suicide bombers were reportedly trained.
"We keep hearing that Pakistan is a 'victim of terrorism'. This is the country which is an arsonist disguising itself as a fire-fighter. Pakistan nurtures terrorists in their backyard in the hope that they will only harm their neighbours," India's first secretary Sneha Dubey said in the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Pakistan's most wanted terrorist Baitullah Mehsud's death may actually embolden the Pakistanis as it marks a weakening of those Taliban factions that oppose Islamabad, a leading United States private intelligence agency has said. "With more confidence in its influence over the remaining Taliban elements, Pakistan could be even less willing to sell out its Taliban assets in Afghanistan," the Stratfor said.
Senator John Cornyn, Senate Majority Whip for the 114th Congress, in a letter to Obama, has said "it is ill-advised" to pursue any civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan.
An editorial in a Pakistani daily has claimed that intelligence outfits of India and Afghanistan funded late Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Pakistan Army of widespread human rights abuses in the country's restive tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, saying several laws were being misused in the fight against Taliban and other militants.
Is Nasir Khan Janjua's appointment as Pakistan's national security advisor the first step in suborning the elected civilian government?
"Militants operating out of Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to threaten Afghan stability as well as stoke tensions between Pakistan and India," Gen Votel said.
It is important to protect fissile material from extremists in Pakistan more than nuclear bombs because the latter has multi-layer security unlike the former, a senior Pakistani nuclear expert said on Saturday.
Pakistan's offensive against the Taliban militia enters its decisive moment as its forces inch closer to Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud.
'The Pakistan army is trying to mainstream the LeT.'
One of the two abducted Sikhs rescued during an army operation in Pakistan's Taliban-infested tribal belt was injured in a shootout between security forces and militants, according to the Pakistan military.
Following the brutal beheading of two Sikhs by Taliban in Pakistan, refugee Sikhs, hailing from Peshawar in Pakistan living in Amritsar have demanded that they should be given citizenship so that they can live in India safely with their families.
At least 16 people were killed and over 30 injured in bomb attacks and violence in restive Balochistan while three soldiers died in north Waziristan region, when Taliban terrorists struck at a Pakistan Independence Day parade.
Special prayers and vigils were held at mosques and educational institutions across Pakistan on Friday for the recovery of teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in the head during an assassination attempt by the Taliban.
The two commanders identified only as Iqbal and Gul Muhammad, both hailing from Faisalabad were arrested earlier this week by law enforcement agencies.
The blame game between the two neighbouring nations over Taliban violence is nothing new, says Tahir Ali
The army operation against militants in Swat and Malakand division will soon be over but Pakistan will continue to fight terrorism and take the campaign to its "logical conclusion", Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday. "The nation will soon hear the good news... soon the army operation will be over.
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Contradicting Asif's claim, the office of the Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Haneef Atmar issued a statement saying there was no mention or reference of India or an Indian citizen during his meeting with the Pakistani foreign minister on September 21 in New York.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said some people in the Pakistani government are aware of the whereabouts of elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar.
Pakistan military used warplanes and attack helicopters to dislodge Taliban militants blocking its bid to overrun their strong bases as 13 militants were killed in continuing heavy fighting for the key towns of Kotkai, Makeen and Ladha in the country's lawless tribal belt.
The MEA said the government of Pakistan should act in defence of their own minorities instead of "preaching sermons" about it to other countries.
"The federal government has set up an investigation team of security agencies and Sufi Mohammad will be formally charged on the basis of its findings," the Dawn quoted North West Frontier Province Law Minister Arshad Abdullah, as saying on Monday.
"The army claims to need more nuclear weapons to deter India's superior conventional arsenal... It seems incapable of understanding that the real threat comes from the Taliban and other extremists," the New York Times reported.
Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar has left for the US on his maiden visit to hold talks with top American officials on regional security, counter terrorism and intelligence issues.
US lawmakers have questioned the Barack Obama administration's move to give billions in dollars in aid to Pakistan and said Islamabad continues to build on its nuclear stockpile and support the Taliban.
Days after the United States Senate approved a $1.5 billion package for Pakistan, including $400 million in military assistance, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik told The Financial Times that his government has put Punjab and Sindh on high alert to avert the possibility that Taliban terrorists, fleeing the military offensive in the Swat valley and Waziristan, may seek refuge in these areas.
Jamiat Ulema e Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, once considered as the patron of Taliban chief Mullah Omer, is today struggling to save his life in Pakistan, as Taliban and Al Qaeda members are chasing him like shadow.
Taliban militants had stormed the a jail in country's northwest primarily to free Adnan Rashid, on death row for an attempt to assassinate former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, and who was in touch with the outside world through a mobile phone, Facebook and blogs.
A network of private schools in Pakistan on Monday observed 'I am not Malala' day to condemn Nobel laureate and teenage girl rights activist for her alleged support for controversial British novelist Salman Rushdie.
At least 34 people were killed and more than 50 injured when a suicide bomber targeted members of an anti-Taliban militia who were attending a funeral in Pakistan's restive northwest region on Wednesday. The bomber targeted the funeral prayers of the wife of Hakeem Khan, a leader of the 'peace committee' or anti-Taliban militia of Adezai, a tribal area near Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Muslim Khan and senior Taliban commander Mehmood Khan, for whom authorities had offered rewards of Rs 10 million each, were arrested by security forces 'in a successful operation in Swat'
The military, which has accused the Taliban of violating the accord by abducting and killing civilians and security personnel, said it is awaiting instructions from the government for launching a full-fledged operation in the region located 160 km from Islamabad.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party took an unassailable lead over its rivals in landmark general elections that witnessed a huge turnout despite Taliban threats and bomb attacks.
Though Pakistan has announced an all out offensive, a 'mother of all battles' against the Taliban in South Waziristan, local residents see the offensive as futile as they believe many Taliban have slipped away into other neighboring areas.
A rebel commander who was recently removed from the post of deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban has said that the Pakistan government suspended negotiations with local militants because of pressure from the United States.
