Scores of militants attacked a Pakistani security post near the Afghan border today, triggering a battle that left 18 fighters dead and cast doubt on claims by Pakistan’s army to have regained control of a critical region.

British police investigating an alleged al-Qaida terror plot in north west England were today searching an additional address.

PAKISTANI officials said a second suspect had been arrested in connection with a plot to kill former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last month.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court today dismissed legal challenges to President Pervez Musharraf’s bid for a new five-year term.

Osama bin Laden’s call for Pakistanis to rise up against their US-allied military leader struck a chord among an angry, extremist minority on Friday, but resonated little among the wider public and was dismissed by the government as “ridiculous.”

Former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto and President General Pervez Musharraf appeared to suffer a major setback in their efforts to reach a deal that would shore up his fraught re-election bid and allow her to return to Pakistan to contest parliamentary elections.

PAKISTAN appears to be building a third plutonium nuclear reactor to significantly boost its production of atomic bombs, a US research group said.

Pakistan’s army spokesman today said the military used intelligence provided by US-led coalition forces in an air raid that left 80 people dead, while thousands of pro-Taliban tribesmen threatened to send suicide bombers to attack Pakistan forces and execute people found spying for the Americans.

Pakistan’s government will eventually have to recognise Israel, but it would be political suicide to do so today, President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has said.

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake jolted south Asia today, killing at least 21 people and injuring hundreds of others in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain announced his resignation today after just two months in office, as part of an orchestrated power transfer that will see the finance minister take his place by the end of the week.