Mumbai lensman testifies against Kasab

MUMBAI - A Mumbai photographer and witness in the 26/11 terror attacks Monday revealed how Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab had confessed to the killing of the navigator of the hijacked fishing vessel Kuber in which 10 terrorists sailed to the city.

So, the Tamil Tigers were mortals after all… (Comment)

The dramatic collapse of the Tamil Tigers, accompanied by white flags and surrenders even as some suicide bombers kept exploding themselves, is a sad commentary on the politics of uncompromising mayhem the rebels pursued for so long in Sri Lanka.

Tamil rebels make conflicting claims over Prabhakaran’s death

COLOMBO - Tamil rebels have made conflicting claims over the reported death of their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, with one saying he was still alive and another confirming his death.

Sri Lanka to rehabilitate child soldiers recruited by LTTE

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government has said it will rehabilitate the child soldiers who were recruited by the Tamil Tigers to reintegrate them into the society.

Eight killed in Iraq suicide attack

BAGHDAD - Eight people were killed when a suicide bomber exploded a car packed with explosives at a US patrol in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Sunday.

LTTE admits finally that Prabhakaran is dead (Lead)

NEW DELHI/COLOMBO - The Tamil Tigers admitted Sunday “with heavy hearts” the death of their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, almost a week after Sri Lanka announced he had been killed.

Pakistan troops gain ground in Swat’s main city (Lead)

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani troops gained a foothold in Swat’s main city Sunday as they pushed on with their offensive to rout Taliban militants from the Swat Valley.

Pakistan expands fight in Swat’s main town

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani troops gained ground in Mingora, Swat valley’s main town, Sunday as they fought house to house in what the military called “the most important phase” of the anti-Taliban operationv in the country’s northwest, media reports said.

Top LTTE leaders killed while trying to surrender: Report

LONDON - Two top Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders had tried to negotiate their surrender but were killed by the Sri Lankan army while “holding white flags”, a Sunday Times report said.

LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is safe and alive, insist loyal fans

NEW DELHI - A week after he became history, his diehard followers still believe that Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is very much alive.

Police gun down top Maoist leaders in Andhra Pradesh (Lead)

HYDERABAD - The Andhra Pradesh police Sunday gunned down two top Maoist leaders, including one allegedly involved in 2003 assassination attempt on former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Musharraf finally vacates Army House

ISLAMABAD - Eighteen months after retiring as the Pakistani Army chief, former president Pervez Musharraf has finally vacated Army House in the adjacent garrison town of Rawalpindi that he had continued to occupy on grounds of security.

Police gun down two top Maoist leaders in Andhra Pradesh

HYDERABAD - The Andhra Pradesh police Sunday gunned down two top Maoist leaders, including one allegedly involved in the assassination attempt on former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Maoists expanding clout in new areas in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR - Maoist guerrillas in Chhattisgarh have started expanding their base to new forested areas in the state’s Raipur and Dhamtari districts, according to worrying police intelligence inputs.

Maoists using children as human shields: Chhattisgarh legislator

RAIPUR - Maoists are forcibly taking away children from villages and using them as human shields against security forces, alleges a Chhattisgarh legislator, whose constituency is badly hit by Left extremist insurgency.

Taliban lying low to fight another day in Pakistan

BUNER - Dressed in worn grey-coloured traditional shalwar kameez and carrying no belongings, Ghazan Khan (a fictitious name) was sitting on a small rock just a few metres from an unmanned post at Pakistan’s remote Ambela Pass, and he was not looking at all like a Taliban fighter.

India asks Sri Lanka to address ‘root causes’

NEW DELHI - With Sri Lanka’s war against Tamil Tigers coming to an end, India’s new External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Saturday urged Colombo to address the root cause of the conflict” by effective devolution of powers to all communities in the island nation.

Pakistani troops battle Taliban in Swat’s main city

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani troops have begun street battles with entrenched Taliban forces in Mingora, the main town in northwestern Swat district, an army spokesman said Saturday.

Tamil mourners say no going back on ‘Eelam’ (Lead, With Images)

TORONTO - More than 20,000 Canadian Tamils descended on the Ontario assembly here in black to mourn for “innocent civilians killed in the genocide” in Sri Lanka.

Gilani warns of Taliban retaliation across Pakistan (Lead, changing dateline)

LAHORE - The gruesome car bombing in Peshawar Friday was not entirely unexpected and the Taliban could attempt to stage more such attacks in retaliation to the military operations being conducted against them in Pakistan’s restive northwest, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said here Saturday.

Islamabad will give up nukes, if India does too, says Pakistani diplomat

WASHINGTON - Stating that Pakistan’s nuclear weapon is a “deterrent” against India, the country’s top diplomat to the US Saturday expressed willingness to enter into an agreement with New Delhi to phase out all nuclear arms possessed by the two countries.

Troops kill 60 militants in Afghanistan

KABUL - Sixty Taliban militants have been killed in clashes with the Afghan and US-led coalition troops in southern Helmand province, officials said Saturday.

Manmohan Singh at greater ease in second term: Pakistani media

ISLAMABAD - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be at greater ease as he begins his second term and Pakistan must leverage this so that the two countries can move forward to undo the damage caused by the 26/11 attack in Mumbai and resume the derailed sub-continental peace process, an editorial in a leading English daily said Saturday.

Taliban might launch retaliatory attacks across Pakistan, says Gilani

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Saturday that terrorists might carry out retaliatory attacks in the country as they have suffered heavy losses in the wake of the military offensives in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Timing not right for deal with Afghan Taliban: US defence secretary

WASHINGTON - The chances of a deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban are remote as long as the insurgents enjoy momentum on the battlefield, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said.

Tamil mourners say no going back on ‘Eelam’ (With Images)

TORONTO - More than 20,000 Canadian Tamils descended on the Ontario assembly here in black to mourn “innocent civilians killed in the genocide by Sri Lanka”.

US drone attack kills nine in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - An unmanned aircraft, suspected to be US operated, fired two missiles at a militant hideout in Pakistan’s ungoverned tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing nine people, a security official said Tuesday.

Six killed in Pakistan blast

ISLAMABAD - Six people were killed and several injured in an explosion Friday in Pakistan’s Peshawar city, a media report said.

Trooper, guerrilla killed in Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR - A separatist guerrilla and a trooper have been killed in clashes in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, an army spokesperson said here Tuesday.