Islamabad  - Taliban militants have handed over to Pakistani authorities the body of a Polish national who was beheaded in February after four months of captivity, media reports said Monday.

Piotr Stanczak, who worked for a Poland-based oil and gas exploratory firm, was kidnapped on September 28 in Attock district, just 85 kilometers from the capital Islamabad. His Pakistani guard and two other colleagues were killed during the abduction.

Lahore, Apr. 26 : Former Pakistan High Commissioner to Britain Akbar Ahmad has said that it is very important for Islamabad to safeguard the tribal regions along the Afghan border because once this territory caves in to the hands of the extremists, the task to prevent the whole country from being toppled over by the insurgents would become much more difficult.

"If you lose them, then you lose Pakistan, followed by Afghanistan, The Daily Times quoted Ahmad, as saying.

Ahmed, however said that the `existential threat' to Pakistan is overrated.

Islamabad, Apr. 26 : Heavily armed Taliban gunmen have looted at least seven trucks of chemical fertilizer used in making bombs in the Swat Valley, a report by the BBC claims.

According to the security officials, Taliban looted the vehicles loaded with ''ammonium nitrate'' in Chahar Bagh and Guli Bagh areas of the Valley.

Security officials said the extremists use the chemical for making bombs.

Lahore, Apr. 26 : Pakistan Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Athar Abbas has said that the decision to initiate a military offensive against the Taliban rests with the political leadership of the country.

Responding to allegations that the army lacks will and capaability to take on the might of the Taliban, General Abbas said that the army certainly has the will to thwart any further advancement of the insurgents.

Lahore, Apr 26 : Alarmed over thousands of Taliban militants pouring into the Swat Valley and spreading to other areas, leading US dailies have warned that Pakistan with its 176 million people and its pivotal position in the region is "more than likely to collapse into a growing civil war."

US special envoy to the region Richard Holbrooke does not mince words: "If the situation with Pakistan continues to deteriorate, success in the region will be very elusive."

London, Apr 26 : The United States made it clear to Pakistan that it will attack Taliban militants in the Swat valley if the Pakistani Government failed to stop their advance towards Islamabad.

A senior Pakistani official said the Obama administration intervened after Taliban forces expanded from Swat into the adjacent district of Buner, 60 miles from the capital.