A major earthquake has rocked Pakistan’s south west, killing at least 15 and sending panicked people running into the street just days after another quake in the same region killed hundreds.

A Pakistani military plane carrying 17 people, including the head of the air force, has crashed in a remote region of north-western Pakistan, a senior Air Force official said today.

PAKISTAN President Pervez Musharraf yesterday said he had been ready to use atomic weapons if Indian forces entered Pakistani territory earlier this year during a peak in tensions — an admission of how close the neighbours came to nuclear war.