US missiles killed 25 people in an al Qaida and Taliban sanctuary close to the Afghan border today, Pakistani officials said, signalling American intent to press ahead with such attacks despite renewed protests by Islamabad.

At least 25 people have died after a US missile strike along the Afghan border with Pakistan, intelligence sources have revealed.

Pakistan’s army chief ordered an inquiry today into video clips that show men in soldiers’ uniforms gunning down a group of bound and blindfolded detainees.

Two suicide bombers dressed in burqas blew themselves up today in a camp for refugees fleeing military offensives in north-western Pakistan, killing 41 people and wounding 62, officials said.

A suicide car bomber attacked a police checkpoint in north west Pakistan today, killing 11 people, including four children, the latest in a wave of militant attacks that have claimed more than 300 lives in the past month.

A suicide bomber in a pick-up truck attacked the north-western regional headquarters of the Pakistani spy agency overseeing a campaign against militancy today, killing 10 people.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched a scathing attack on Pakistan for failing to hunt down al Qaida inside its borders, saying the government knew where the terror leaders were hiding.

Militants were holding several security officers hostage inside Pakistan's army headquarters today after they and others attacked the complex in an audacious assault on the country's most powerful institution.

PAKISTAN braced yesterday for more militant attacks ahead of an anticipated offensive against a Taliban stronghold, as the insurgents said they bombed a UN relief agency because international aid work was not in “the interest of Muslims”.

The party of murdered opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has deferred a decision on who should become Pakistan’s prime minister, deepening uncertainty about how a new government will handle President Pervez Musharraf.