Islamabad - Fighting between security forces and Taliban militants Monday left 13 non-combatants and one soldier dead in Pakistan's troubled north-western region, where a Polish engineer was beheaded by rebels two days ago, an official said.

Islamist militants fired several rockets on a checkpoint of government troops near Darra Adam Khel, a small town just outside Peshawar, the capital of militancy-plagued North West Frontier Province (NWFP), in the afternoon, killing one soldier and injuring another two, said a local intelligence official.

Washington/Islamabad, Feb. 9 : There has been considerable adverse reaction in the West to the Islamabad High Court's decision to free tainted Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan from five years of house arrest for selling nuclear secrets.

However, according to Pakistani officials, an agreement has been reached between Khan''s lawyers and the government to limit his movements and monitor his telephone calls, visitors and activities.

The ministry has also agreed to prohibit his travel abroad, but will provide him all security.

Islamabad, Feb. 9: Pakistani Senator Envar Baig has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB ) chairman Ijaz Butt to resign immediately.

In a parliamentary committee meeting on sports, presided by Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Butt failed to satisfy the committee on Javed Miandad''s resignation.

According to The News, when the committee asked Butt to explain the terms on which Miandad''s appointment was made, Butt said Miandad had neither signed a contract nor had he received a check.

Butt admitted that Miandad''s appointment without a contract was his biggest mistake.

Islamabad, Feb 9 : Female mobile phone subscribers in Pakistan have been increasingly complaining of a rise in instances of getting wrong calls from unknown numbers for the last few months.

Many women revealed that they even got wrong calls on their phones within hours after the activation of their new SIMs.

"When I activated my new SIM and no one even my close friends were aware of my new number, I started receiving wrong calls from unknown numbers," the News quoted Neelma Kayani, a student at a local university operating in Blue Area, as saying.

Bannu, Feb. 9 : Eighteen policemen were injured in a suicide attack in Bannu District of North West Frontier Province on Monday.

According to The News, a suicide bomber exploded his car at the Baranpul police checkpoint on Miranshah road injuring 18 policemen, who were stationed there.

The explosion damaged the building of the check post. 16 out of the eighteen injured policemen were FC officials. The injured were shifted to district hospital of Bannu.

DSP Tahir Dawar has confirmed that 11 officials sustained injuries and added that the security has been tightened after the blast.

Islamabad, Feb.