Pakistan vowed to step up its fight against terrorism today after a suicide attacker detonated an explosive-laden vehicle inside a high-security military base, killing 16 soldiers from an elite counter-terrorism task force.

Foreign-based Islamic extremists are believed to be responsible for two bombings that tore through a restaurant and a park in Hyderabad, southern India, killing at least 42 people, an Indian official said today.

Pakistan celebrated it’s 60th anniversary of independence from Britain today.

A fire broke out at the Indian army’s largest arms depot in Kashmir today, wounding at least 30 people, officials said, as shells exploded into the air and a massive plume of black smoke blanketed the Himalayan region.

Pakistani forces opened fire on Indian border guards before dawn today, an official said, adding that two of the Indian troopers were shot and wounded.

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said today that he “welcomed” recent proposals from neighbouring Pakistan for ending their decades-long dispute.

Indian and Pakistani officials today held extensive talks on terrorism and Kashmir - the two key issues that have fuelled decades of hostility between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.

India’s leader today warned Pakistan that its failure to rein in terrorist groups operating from its territory is undermining public support for the peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Pakistan will continue to support Kashmiris in their struggle for independence from Indian rule, but is striving for peace in their divided Himalayan region, Pakistan’s prime minister said today.

Indian authorities today named a third suspect in this week’s Mumbai train bombings, as the local media said the well-co-ordinated attacks that killed 200 people were planned by Pakistan’s main intelligence agency. Pakistan has denied the charge.

Clashes between Indian government forces and suspected Islamic separatist militants have killed nine people in India’s Jammu-Kashmir state.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to donors to give generously for victims of the devastating October 8 earthquake in Asia, as Kashmiri civilians were poised to cross the disputed territory’s frontier.

Suspected Islamic rebels tossed a grenade that landed near a school in Indian-controlled Kashmir today, killing two women and wounding at least 57 civilians, most of them schoolchildren and their parents, police said.

A formula proposed by Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf for solving the long-running issue of Kashmir has been rejected by opposition groups.

Suspected Islamic militants blew up a paramilitary bus in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir today, killing at least 28 people and wounding 15 others, less than 24 hours after India swore in its new prime minister.

Suspected Islamic militants blew up a paramilitary bus in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir today, killing at least 26 soldiers and wounding 15 others, officials said.

A bomb exploded in the main wholesale fruit market in Indian-controlled Kashmir today, killing six people and injuring 25 others, security forces said.

Indian troops set fire to a hotel in Kashmir’s summer capital today after a gun battle with Islamic guerrillas that left six people dead.

Hindus and Muslims alike mourned today for victims of the worst terrorist attack in a decade in India’s financial heart of Bombay, as the death toll from the twin car bombings rose to 46, with 150 people injured.

Indian troops killed 15 suspected Islamic guerillas during a fierce gunfight today in Jammu-Kashmir state.

Authorities in New Delhi tightened security in the Indian capital after intelligence agencies warned of a possible terrorist attack during the weekend, officials said today.

At least 13 Indian policemen were killed and five injured today in a Kashmir bomb attack blamed on Islamic militants.

One passenger died and 23 people were injured today when a bomb exploded on a bus heading for a Hindu pilgrimage site in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police and hospital sources said.

At least four people in Indian-controlled Kashmir died today when gunmen opened fire on a bus as polls opened for the third phase in state elections, police said.

A MUSLIM was stabbed

Indian troops were today hunting suspected Islamic guerrillas who killed at least 27 Hindu civilians when they attacked a crowded slum in Jammu-Kashmir state.

At least 25 Hindus were killed after suspected Islamic guerrillas threw grenades and fired automatic weapons in a slum area - the deadliest attack in the disputed region in two months.

At least 25 Hindus were killed today after suspected Islamic guerrillas threw grenades and fired automatic weapons in a slum area - the deadliest attack in the disputed region in two months.

India moved its warships away from waters near Pakistan as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in South Asia with ideas for helping the nuclear-armed neighbours avoid another war over Kashmir.

Shelling and small-arms fire killed an army officer and wounded three civilians along the Kashmir border ahead of a visit today by the US defence secretary aimed at defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, an Indian army spokesman said.

India’s prime minister held talks with senior Cabinet ministers and military officials in disputed Kashmir today, as shelling between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan pounded villages on both sides of the border.

Indian police have arrested a Pakistani who is accused of plotting to kidnap cricket stars Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly.

Elite Indian strike forces have moved closer to Pakistan’s border amid escalating tensions, following a suicide attack on India’s Parliament, the defence minister said.

India put its army on high alert today as it decided how to respond to the terrorist attack on parliament, which it blames on Islamic militant groups backed by Pakistan.

Talks between the leaders of India and Pakistan were deadlocked tonight when both sides failed to reach an agreement on a joint declaration over the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir.

Tough talk over the disputed Kashmir province escalated and security was tightened today, the eve of a landmark summit between India and Pakistan.