Pakistan military says troops rescue dozens abducted by militants in tribal area

ISLAMABAD — Troops manning a checkpoint Tuesday rescued dozens of students, teachers and staff from a boys school who had been taken captive by militants in the northwest, the Pakistani military said.

Pakistani military lifts curfews in more Swat towns; fighting flares in nearby tribal region

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s army said it lifted curfews Monday in several parts of the Swat Valley as it hunted Taliban militants in the region, while insurgents killed two soldiers in a tribal region that could be the next front in the northwest military offensive.

Pakistani military says Taliban fled Swat’s main town; fighting has displaced about 3 million

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban have fled the Pakistani army’s advance on the main town in the Swat Valley, delivering the military a strategic prize in its offensive against militants in the country’s northwest, commanders said.

Pakistani military prepares for South Waziristan showdown

ISLAMABAD - Buoyed by its successes against the Taliban in the northwest, Pakistan’s military is intensifying its fight against the militants in South Waziristan agency and is moving up tanks and heavy artillery.

Baitullah Mehsud getting tough competition from tribal rival

WASHINGTON - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud faces an emerging rival from his local tribe in northwestern Pakistan and the power struggle could distract his Taliban militants along the border with Afghanistan from their spring offensive against US and allied troops.

US drone attack in Pakistan kills five

ISLAMABAD - A suspected US missile strike near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan Saturday killed at least five people, an intelligence official said.

PAF offensive kills 20 militants in FATA, claim officials

ISLAMABAD - At least twenty militants were reportedly killed in an offensive launched by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the Orakzai region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan military officials have claimed.

US mulling extending drone strikes to Balochistan: Report

WASHINGTON - Notwithstanding the threat from Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud the United States is planning to extend Predator drone strikes to Balochistan, a reports has claimed.

‘Teenage suicide bombers don’t act out of religious fervour’

ISLAMABAD - The teenage suicide bomber of the kind who struck at a Shia mosque in Pakistan’s Punjab killing at least 24 people, including four children, did not act out of religious fervour ‘but under coercion or brainwashing’, an editorial in a leading English daily said Tuesday.

No terrorist group behind New York shootout: Police

WASHINGTON - No terrorist group was behind the shooting rampage at an immigration services centre in New York State where a lone gunman killed 13 people and then shot himself, police said Saturday.

Nine militants enter Punjab to carry out Manawan like attack: Pak intelligence

ISLAMABAD - Days after intelligence agencies warned that over a dozen terrorists have entered Islamabad and Lahore in the garb of religious preachers, intelligence sources have now revealed that nine militants have sneaked into Punjab and are planning to carry out attacks similar to the Manawan police training academy strike.

Mehsud’s threat to target White House is credible: Terrorism experts

WASHINGTON - The threat given by Pakistan Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud to target the White House and other important places in the United States must be taken seriously, terrorism experts have said.

Pak Taliban chief threatens “spectacular” strike in Washington that will amaze the world

DERA ISMAIL KHAN - The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has warned of a spectacular terror strike on Washington in the near future.

Taliban claims responsibility for Lahore attack

ISLAMABAD - The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack on a police training academy in Lahore Monday, a media report said Tuesday.

Taliban leader says US troops in Afghanistan “absolute target”

LAHORE - Taliban leader Maulvi Nazir has said that the US troops stationed in Afghanistan were “absolutely” the group’s target.

Suspected US drone attack kills six in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - At least six people were killed and eight injured in a suspected US drone attack in northwestern Pakistan Saturday, Dawn TV reported.

Zardari suppressing Benazir probe: PPP leaders

LONDON - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari may be suppressing the investigation into the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, a British newspaper reported Saturday quoting members of his own ruling party.

India wants Pakistan to act against terror, rejects war hysteria

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD - With Pakistan denying any link to the lone surviving Mumbai attacker, India Tuesday cautioned against ‘creating war hysteria’ and asked Islamabad to address the real issue of ‘dismantling the terror machine’ in that country.