At least 14 Taliban militants were killed in twin US drone attacks in Pakistan's restive northwest on Wednesday while five soldiers and as many militants died in violence, including in a suicide bombing at an army barrack in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
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.
Stepping up a campaign against the group, 10 to 12 drones carried out a wave of pre-dawn attacks on Dargah Mandi and Danday Darpa Khel near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency, officials and witnesses were quoted as saying by TV news channels.
Three battalions of the Border Security Force comprising more than 3,000 personnel will move across the border from Odisha to Chhattisgarh and an equal number of Indo-Tibetan Border Police units will further move into the Naxal stronghold of Abujhmad as part of a strategy to intensify anti-Maoist operations in their last bastions, official sources said.
'Meiteis started feeling insecure stating that the illegal immigrant population is growing in the valley, and that the majority community would become a minority.'
The Pakistan Army on Tuesday claimed that its forces waging a tough ground offensive in the lawless South Waziristan tribal region have captured most of the towns and populated centres from the Taliban.
The Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday threatened they would launch a guerrilla war once security forces entered the whole of the South Waziristan tribal region, where a military operation is currently underway.
The home minister said the northeast and the Left-wing extremism-affected areas in the country are tribal-dominated regions and security is a precursor to development there.
Amid a spirited argument between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, former US president Bill Clinton on Thursday said the Al Qaeda leader is "probably" in the restive Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan.
Saudi Arabia has pledged $100 million as aid to its long-time ally Pakistan, to help in the rehabilitation of the thousands of people who have been affected by the ongoing clashes between the army and militants in the country's tribal regions. Saudi Arabia's contribution, the single largest for the current emergency in Pakistan, will enable the humanitarian community in Pakistan to reach hundreds of thousands of people in need and help restore their homes and livelihoods.
A top American General has said that it would not be surprising if Pakistan's powerful spy agency Inter Services Intelligence has links with Islamist extremist groups, which have set up a safe haven in the country's restive tribal region.
In the wake of wide scale criticism and warnings by a top United Nations official over the use of unmanned drones to target militants in Pakistan's lawless tribal region and other troubled areas across the world, the US is now planning to use manned spy aircrafts in the 'war on terror.'
Contests in 13 seats would attract most attention during the Chhattisgarh assembly elections as they feature prominent leaders of the Congress and BJP.
'Gehlot made it a Modi versus Gehlot contest. It was for the first time in a northern Indian state where the prime minister had to confront a chief minister.'
Artworks and traditional items representing the rich heritage of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh were Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of presents to world leaders during the G-20 summit in Bali.
Continuing to target terrorists in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, suspected American drones fired several missiles at a house linked to a top militant, leaving 12 people dead, officials said.Twelve people, including women and children, were killed while eight others were injured.
Asking Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, to file an updated status report, the bench said, "It should have details like rehabilitation camps, law and order and recovery of arms."
The bodies of four men beheaded by the Taliban on charges of allegedly spying for the US were found in the restive North Waziristan tribal region of northwest Pakistan on Friday, officials said.
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
Heavily-armed Taliban militants have abducted nearly 400 students and staff members of a cadet college after intercepting a convoy of buses in a lawless tribal region near the North West Frontier Province.
Pakistani troops on Sunday stepped up the crackdown on militants in a tribal region near Peshawar as the restive Swat valley bordering Afghanistan witnessed fresh violence that killed four people, including two soldiers who died in a bomb blast.
Members of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed and militants from South Waziristan tribal region are fighting alongside some 5,000 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Friday.
At least 10 people were killed and several others injured in a blast in a mosque in the troubled Khyber tribal region in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed on Tuesday, that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate.Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told TV news channels that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in a drone attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency on January 14.
The Pakistan government and Taliban militants in the restive South Waziristan tribal region are expected to swap prisoners as part of efforts for a formal peace agreement. A formal agreement could be reached in three to four days. The swapping of prisoners is expected to take place at Tiarza in South Waziristan, sources said. An official said all of them were members of the Mehsud tribe.
The new policy, to be unveiled by Obama at the White House on Friday evening, would endorse more drone attacks inside Pakistan much beyond their traditional strike zones of the tribal regions of Pakistan, media reports said.
A woman was shot dead while she was resisting an alleged attempt of molestation and rape by suspected Garo National Liberation Army militants at Raja Rongat in South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, police said on Wednesday.
The ruling Congress, voted to office in 2018 after 15 years in opposition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party are the main contenders for power in the state, where the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and some regional outfits are also in the fray.
'... that they should listen to people of the soil of the North East and find a permanent solution to tribal problems.'
"We will wait till January for our offensive since we are stronger during the snowing season," said Hakimullah, who was made chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan after his predecessor Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack in August
At least fifteen people, including three children, were killed and several others injured in two missile strikes carried out by suspected US drones in Pakistan's troubled North and South Waziristan tribal regions on Friday.
The Jamatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was carried out to avenge the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, killer of Taseer.
No process can offer a panacea for ethnic conflict, but there are times at which a legal process could work to defuse violence, asserts Supreme Court lawyer Devvrat.
The army carried out this operation in the South Waziristan tribal region after reports that 25 to 30 Al Qaeda men were hiding there.
The drone fired three missiles at Karikot village in South Waziristan, official sources were quoted as saying by TV channels.
Security presence which has been bolstered by flying in more army troops and rapid action force and central police forces was clearly visible at all major areas and roads.
After his killing, the Taliban Shura (the supreme council of the Taliban) has convened meetings to elect the new TTP chief. There are three candidates in the running -- Hakimullah Mehsud, Azmatullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman Mehsud.
Two missiles were fired at a house in the Khushali Torikhel area near Mir Ali town at around midnight, TV channels reported. Among the five persons who died were foreign militants, the reports said.
Pakistani security forces claimed to have killed 64 Taliban militants in an intensified operation in various parts of the troubled Bajaur tribal region near Afghan border, as the locals continued shifting to safer places. However, independent sources said 11 militants were killed and eight others injured on Sunday in the aerial blitz at Loisam, Rashkai, Tang Khatta and other areas of the violence-hit agency, local daily The News reported on Monday.
Terrorism was a serious threat to Pakistan's peace, security and development, said Musharraf.
