Washington, July 24 : A videon showing the body of a martyred Uzbek child is being used by a group linked to Al Qaeda to recruit jihadis.

The apparently lifeless body of the child, younger than 11, is the focus of the grisly half-hour video being promoted by the Islamic Jihad Union — a radical Uzbek group, says the New York Daily News.

According to American Government officials, the boy has been identified as Abd al Rahim, and he was killed in Waziristan.

Waziristan is part of the Pakistani tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other insurgents’ stage attacks on U. S. and allied forces.

The video was obtained from the terrorism research service SITE Intelligence Group.

Ankara - Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets inside northern Iraq Wednesday night, the Turkish General Staff announced on Thursday.

In a short statement on its official website, the General Staff said Turkish Air Force planes successfully hit 13 suspected Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) targets inside northern Iraq. The statement said that special care was taken not to hit civilian properties.

No information on what kind of targets were hit nor their locations inside Iraq was given in the statement.

Islamabad, July 24: Pakistani security forces have arrested a senior Afghan Taleban commander in Quetta.

Mullah Rahim is said to be the senior most Taleban leader in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

The Times quoted British commanders in Afghanistan as saying that Rahim gave himself up on Saturday.

The issue was so sensitive that Pakistani security officials would neither confirm nor deny the capture of Mullah Rahim — just as they have never acknowledged the arrest of other high-ranking insurgents in the past.

Washington, July 24: The increasing number of foreign terrorists, including Uzbeks, Chechans and those from Arab, arriving into Afghanistan from across its borders with Pakistan, has been a cause of concern for the Pentagon.

This has emerged as a major problem for the US, especially in the wake of its inability to send more forces into Afghanistan as the Bush administration presently wants to focus more on Iraq.

Singapore - Asia's top security forum began its annual meeting on Thursday to discuss measures that will make member- countries more responsive in dealing with the challenges in the region, especially in the area of disaster response.

Foreign ministers of the 27-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) were to focus on improving disaster planning and response in the wake of the deadly cyclone that devastated Myanmar and the earthquake that wrecked havoc in China.

The group was also scheduled to discuss concrete and practical cooperation among member countries in dealing with common security challenges.

Washington - The US military has concluded the remaining crew members of a B-52 bomber that crashed earlier this week off the coast of Guam are dead, the Air Force said Wednesday.

The B-52 crashed about 40 kilometres off Guam's northwest coast on Monday while it was preparing to participate in a ceremony recognizing the island's liberation. The cause of the crash has not been determined.

The bodies of two of the six crew were found on Monday and the other four remained missing.