Islamabad, Nov. 20 : At least eight persons were killed in a suspected US drone attack in North Waziristan on Friday.

According to reports, two missiles were fired from an unmanned Predator aircraft targeting a vehicle near the Mir Ali town, which is considered a den of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

"Eight people have been killed," The Nation quoted an intelligence official in the region, as saying.

Islamabad, Nov 20 - Eight people were killed in a suspected US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan's tribal area, officials said Friday.

The unmanned aircraft fired two missiles on a house at Mir Ali tehsil in North Waziristan tribal agency near the Afghan border, officials said.

On Thursday, another drone attack killed at least four people and injured five in North Waziristan.

Washington says insurgent fighters are hiding in the area and planning attacks on Western troops stationed in neighbouring Afghanistan. (IANS)

Islamabad  - A roadside bomb early on Friday killed three police officers and wounded six more in Pakistan's troubled north-western city of Peshawar, police said.

The casualties occurred when a police vehicle on patrol was hit by a remote-controlled bomb in the city's Yakka Toot neighbourhood.

"Two policemen died at the scene while one more died in the hospital," local police officer Abdul Qadir said.

Islamabad  - A suspected US missile strike in Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan tribal district killed at least four militants and wounded five others, an official said on Thursday.

Two missiles believed to have been fired by a US-operated Predator drone flattened a compound in the Humzoni area, located some 15 kilometers from the region's main town of Miranshah.

"The midnight [on Wednesday] attack left four militants dead," an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. Five more suffered injuries in the explosions.

Islamabad, Nov. 19 : Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has challenged media reports that claim that SwatTaliban commander Mullah Fazlullah is alive and has sneaked into Afghanistan.

Addressing a function at the police lines here, Malik said: “In case the Afghan Government knows where Fazlullah is hiding, they should apprehend and hand him over to Pakistan.”

The BBC’s Urdu service had reported that Fazlullah had called them and said that he has safely crossed over to Afghanistan.

Islamabad, Nov. 19 : A US drone attack has reportedly claimed the lives of four people, believed to be extremists, in North Waziristan late on Wednesday night.

According to officials, the unmanned aircraft targeted a suspect militant hideout in Shanakhora village.

“It was a US drone attack which targeted a militant compound, killing four militants and wounding five others,” The News quoted a senior security official, as saying.

Confirming the attack, another official said two missiles were fired from the US drone.

Islamabad, Nov. 19 : The Taliban has rejected the Pakistan Army’s claims of capturing strategic locations in South Waziristan, saying they have ‘voluntarily withdrawn’ into the mountains as part of a well planned strategy.

“We have not been defeated. We have voluntarily withdrawn into the mountains under a strategy that will trap the Pakistan Army in the area,” The Daily Times quoted self-proclaimed spokesperson of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Azam Tariq, as saying.

Islamabad, Nov 18 : The Pakistan government Wednesday announced a 15-day special package ahead of Eid under which a total subsidy of Rs. 300-400 million would be given on more than 400 commodities. Sugar would be sold at Rs. 38 per kg.

Addressing a press conference here, the Managing Director (MD) of the Utility Stores Corporation, Arif Khan, said 102,000 tonnes of sugar would be made available to consumers at Rs. 38 per kg through all Utility Stores of the country.

Islamabad, Nov 18 : Pointing a finger at the intelligence agencies of India, the US, Israel and Afghanistan, a former Pakistani army chief said Wednesday that an international conspiracy was being hatched against this country but Islamabad had the wherewithal to deal with the situation.

Talking to a private TV channel, Gen. (retd) Mirza Aslam Baig said India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) the US' CIA, Israel's Mossad and Afghan Intelligence Agency Rawa were involved in a conspiracy against Pakistan and had imposed a war on the country.

Islamabad, Nov 18 : A Pakistani parliamentary panel has recommended that a constitutional provisional that requires candidates contesting elections to have at least a college degree be amended.

This can be done by amending articles 62 and 63 of the statute, the Constitutional Reforms Committee said at its meeting here Tuesday.

Online news agency quoted sources as saying that the meeting reviewed in detail the two articles and sought the opinion of various parties on them.

Islamabad, Nov. 18 : Concerned over the Transparency International’s (TI) latest report in which Pakistan ranked 42nd in the global list of most corrupt countries, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered an enquiry into the country’s poor show in the international corruption index.

Gilani has formed a committee led by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin to look into the causes of wide spread corruption in the country.

Islamabad, Nov. 18 : The UN commission probing the former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case has reportedly quizzed former President General Pervez Musharraf.

According to sources, the enquiry commission interrogated Musharraf last Friday and asked about the security arrangements made for Bhutto after she returned to the country in October 2007.

Musharraf was also quizzed about the series of events occurred after Bhutto’s tragic death on December 27, 2007, The News reports.

Islamabad, Nov. 18 : Downplaying reports of his rivalry with President Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that he never considered Zardari as his rival, and that he is ready hold talks with leaders of all political parties for the sake of democracy.

In an interview with Geo News, Sharif said he has never hesitated in holding talks with Zardari in the interest of the country and added that he would like to advise the President that ‘time was running out to save democracy.’

Islamabad, Nov. 18 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that President Asif Ali Zardari is ready to surrender the powers to appoint services chiefs and dissolve parliament.

Talking to media persons in Dera Ismail Khan, where he met internally displaced persons (IDPs) from South Waziristan, Gilani stressed that while Zardari is ready to relinquish his powers, he does not want to acquire the authority of appointing the services chiefs.

“The president is already willing to give up these powers,” The Daily Times quoted Gilani, as saying.

Islamabad, Nov 17 : Top leaders of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) want President Asif Ali Zardari to deliver an immediate nationwide address to quell rumours and inject confidence into the suspense-ridden and disappointed masses, a media report Tuesday said.

They have also demanded immediate removal of "incompetent persons" from their "highly esteemed and responsible posts" since they were bringing disrepute to the party and ruining its name and credibility among the masses, Online news agency reported.

Islamabad, Nov 17 : Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will pay an official visit to Afghanistan Thursday to attend the oath taking ceremony in Kabul by President Hamid Karzai for his second term in office.

Diplomatic sources told Online news agency that the president will be accompanied, among others, by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

The sources said the president, during his stay in Kabul, will hold a round table meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Washington's new Af-Pak strategy.

Islamabad, Nov. 17 : Reacting strongly to a report published in one of the leading English dailies of Pakistan, which accused a foreign journalist of working for the CIA and Israeli intelligence, top editors and executives of 21 renowned international news organisations have asked the Pakistan government to ensure the safety and security of all foreign media personnel in the country.

Islamabad, Nov 17 : Pakistani security forces have cleared the Taliban stronghold of Srarogha in South Waziristan after an intense five-day battle in which 180 militants and seven soldiers were killed, disclosed an army officer Tuesday.

Briefing reporters in South Waziristan's largest town of Wana, Brigadier Shafiq, the commander of the Rah-e-Nijat military operation, said troops were now advancing towards Makeen, another stronghold of the militants, and the area would also be cleared within a few days, Online news agency reported.

Islamabad, Nov. 17 : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ruled out talks with extremists, saying the South Waziristan operation would be taken to its conclusive end.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Gilani termed extremists as ‘beasts’ and said no talks would be held with them.

“There can be talks with humans, what talks can be held with these beasts?” The Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying

“This is not the time for dialogue. This time the operation in South Waziristan would be carried out conclusively,” he added.

Islamabad, Nov. 17 : Coming down hard on opponents for representing the Presidency in bad light, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the opposition parties were carrying out a ‘vilification campaign’ against him.

Zardari said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would not be deterred by any such propaganda and continue to march forward to achieve its objectives.