The Taliban against whom US-led forces are fighting in Afghanistan grew "more effective" in the last three years because they had "safe haven" in the tribal areas of Pakistan to "rest" and "train" before returning to fight, US' top military commander has said.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the government has established its writ in the scenic Tirah Valley in the troubled Khyber agency that had become a haven for Taliban militants.
Taliban-linked militants have threatened to carry out more attacks on soldiers and government installations similar to an assault on a Pakistan Army camp that killed eight security personnel on Monday, according to a media report.
Pakistani Hindu and Sikh families, who have been targetted by Taliban for failing to pay 'religious' tax, left their homes and moved to Punjab province to take shelter as the government in Islamabad on Saturday dismissed India's "verbal demarche" on the issue.
Fearing at the possibility of attacks against the US emanating from Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her second visit to the country has called on Islamabad to take further and specific actions against militant networks, British Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The drone fired two missiles at Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's base at Khadezai village in a remote mountainous area of Aurakzai tribal agency, witnesses said. Local residents and witnesses told TV channels that at least 12 militants were killed and more than 15 others injured in the strike.
Notwithstanding Taliban's insistence that militant commander Ilyas Kashmiri is dead, senior Pakistani military authorities in South Waziristan tribal region are still reluctant to confirm that he was killed in a US drone strike over a year ago.
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani paid homage to slain Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti at a memorial service at a church attended by scores of people, as Christians protested for the second straight day against his killing and demanded arrest of his assassins.
The United States would begin a "responsible, conditions-based" withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, President Barack Obama's Af-Pak review said on Thurday, while acknowledging that the gains achieved in the war-torn country remained "fragile" and "reversible".
Pakistani security forces today announced a four-day ceasefire in the restive Bajaur tribal region in response to a truce called by the Taliban after signing a secret peace accord with the government.
The US defence secretary's visit comes ahead of the visit by US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Pakistan Army and United States-led forces in Afghanistan have decided to target Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah using drones rather than a ground operation in the areas where he is believed to be taking sanctuary.
The Pakistan army, while changing its operational priorities has described 'internal threats' such as anti-state terrorist groups as the biggest danger to the country's security.
At least eight people were killed and six others injured when two missiles fired by a suspected US drone hit a 'madrassa' founded by a Taliban leader in Pakistan's restive tribal region. The drone fired missiles at Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani's madrassa located a few kilometres from North Waziristan Agency's main town of Miranshah, late Wednesday night.
A Pakistani chemistry professor lost his life while trying to protect his students using his licensed pistol against armed Taliban militants who stormed the university.
Reacting to the embarrassing development, Khan chaired an emergency Cabinet meeting and took back the notification to extend services of General Bajwa.
Sharif raises Kashmir issue at UNGA, renews plebiscite demand.
A senior Taliban commander and his accomplice have been arrested for an attack at a base camp of Nanga Parbat that killed 10 foreign climbers and their Pakistani guide, officials said on Thursday.
14 people, including three women, were killed and 20 others injured in missile strikes by suspected unmanned US drones on a seminary linked to top Taliban Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal region on Monday.
China, the Ukraine crisis and Quad will dominate the discussions, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
A statement issued by the Interior Ministry also said the crackdown on Jaish 'has been taken in line with the decision of the NSC meeting'.
'Checkmating India by its nukes, Pakistan can pursue terrorism against India in the Kashmir Valley and also resume launching Mumbai 2008 style attacks.' 'The military oligarchy in Pakistan has a totally different view of what is desirable and possible in the subcontinent.'
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he will not allow Pakistan to become a "sanctuary of terrorists" and asserted that the military operation against the Taliban in North Waziristan tribal region would continue until militants are eliminated.
With Pakistan under fire from India for its inaction against terrorism, Interior Minister Rehman Malik tweeted on Thursday that Delhi must realise that his country is paying a heavy price for fighting militancy, which has claimed hundreds of lives.
However, the US praises India for its significant counter-terrorism actions.
US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Pakistan addressed the issue of terrorism and also called on both - India and Pakistan to find a diplomatic solution to the violence at the border issue.
Top US military commander has said that any links, if they exist, between Pakistan's military intelligence and militant outfits were "completely unacceptable".
Yousafzai, 15, was shot in Pakistan in October and later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham (QEHB) for further specialist treatment, where she is recovering from her injuries.
US President Barack Obama, who made a surprise visit to Kabul and met President Hamid Karzai, has vowed to deny the Al Qaeda safe haven and reverse Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan.
Introduced by Republican Congressman Ted Poe and Democratic lawmaker Rick Nolan, the legislation calls for revoking MNNA status of Pakistan, which was granted to it in 2004 by the then president, George Bush, in an effort to get the country to help the US fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The United Nations Security Council, under India's presidency, has imposed global sanctions against the dreaded Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network and the group's chief of suicide operations.
The agreement, which aroused suspicion all around was signed with militants and not with tribal elders, as is being officially claimed, it said.
A death row prisoner, who escaped with hundreds of other inmates when Taliban militants stormed a jail in northwest Pakistan, has turned himself in to police in the hope that his "good deed" will earn him a reprieve.
Notwithstanding United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's clarifications that there was not sufficient evidence to prove India's involvement in terror activities inside Pakistan's territory, Pakistan Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that Islamabad has found 'concrete evidence' regarding New Delhi's role in fanning insurgency in South Waziristan, where the military is engaged in an intense battle with the Taliban.
Pakistani authorities on Friday issued a list of 109 "most wanted" terrorists, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi member Mati-ur-Rehman who was accused of involvement in a suicide attack on former premier Shaukat Aziz.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has made a special plea to Pakistan to support the country's reintegration plans. "We ask all neighbours, particularly Pakistan, to support our peace and reconciliation endeavours," Karzai told a London conference on Thursday.
A senate panel has approved a legislation which blocks $300 million United States military aid to Pakistan.
Pakistan on Monday launched a massive military operation in Punjab province in the wake of the deadly Taliban suicide bombing in Lahore, conducting raids and making several arrests.
Almost four months since she was shot in the head, Pakistani teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai has been released from a UK hospital where she was being treated after being attacked by the Taliban.
The report said the crucial meeting involved Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, CIA director General Michael V Hayden, new army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, the chief of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence.
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