A claim by the Pakistani Taliban that it was behind the Times Square bomb attempt should be "taken with a pinch of salt", a spokesman for Pakistan's army said today.

A Pakistan military chief confirmed today that the Afghan Taliban’s number two leader has been arrested.

THE Pakistani army said yesterday it was investigating reports Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud died from injuries sustained in a US drone missile strike in mid-January.

MILITANTS stormed a mosque near Pakistan’s army headquarters, killing at least 36 worshippers, including six military officers, during prayers yesterday as they sprayed gunfire and threw grenades before blowing themselves up, officials said.

Pakistan’s army took their battle against the Taliban to the streets of a key stronghold in the tribal region of South Waziristan today.

The army claimed Pakistan’s Taliban were in disarray after soldiers captured the hometown of the militants’ chief, a strategic prize as the military pushes deeper into an insurgent stronghold along the Afghan border.

Pakistani soldiers gained ground today as their offensive moved into the home city of Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

TROOPS fought militants on three fronts and fighter jets bombed insurgent positions near the Afghan border yesterday as Pakistan pressed ahead with an assault on the country’s main Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold.

More than 30,000 Pakistani soldiers launched a ground offensive against al Qaida and the Taliban’s main stronghold along the Afghan border today in the country’s toughest test yet against a strengthening insurgency.

A SUSPECTED suicide bomber killed 41 people in an attack on the Pakistani military yesterday as the Taliban claimed responsibility for a weekend raid on the army’s headquarters.

A suicide car bombing targeting Pakistani troops killed 41 people today, the fourth militant attack in just over a week, as the Taliban pledged to mobilise fighters across the country for more strikes.

Pakistani fighter jets bombed suspected militant hide-outs today in a tribal region where the military had previously declared victory over the Taliban, killing eight alleged extremists a day after the end of a deadly siege of the army’s headquarters.

PAKISTANI commandos freed dozens of hostages held by militants at the army’s own headquarters yesterday, ending a bloody, 22-hour drama that embarrassed the nation’s military as it plans a new offensive against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

At least 19 people died as Pakistani commandos freed dozens of hostages seized by militants at the army's own headquarters today.

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.

Gunmen wearing military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades attacked Pakistan’s army headquarters today, sparking a ferocious gun battle outside the capital that killed four of the assailants and at least six soldiers, authorities said.

A team of gunmen wielding assault rifles and grenades tried to break into Pakistan’s army headquarters today, sparking a ferocious 45-minute gun battle outside the capital that ended when all the assailants were killed, authorities said.

Pakistani fighter jets today bombed suspected Taliban positions in a tribal region that could end up the focus of a future military offensive, killing as many as six people, intelligence officials said.

The military offensive to expel the Taliban from Pakistan’s Swat Valley could take another two months and troops may have to stay for a year to prevent them from retaking control, commanders said today.

Troops manning a checkpoint today rescued dozens of students, teachers and staff from a boys' school who had been taken captive by militants in the northwest, the Pakistani military said.

PAKISTAN’S defence secretary said yesterday that a month-long offensive to crush Taliban fighters in north-west Swat could end within days, as fierce fighting spilled into a nearby tribal area.

The Pakistan military says it has regained control of the largest town in the Swat Valley from the Taliban.

The Taliban have urged civilians to return to the Swat Valley’s main city, promising they would not attack security forces out of concern for the safety of trapped residents.

Pakistani security forces are fighting street battles with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley’s main urban centre, a critical phase in the effort to wrest the northwest region near Afghanistan out of insurgent hands.

Pakistan’s army said its troops have entered the main town in the Swat Valley and are engaging militants in street fights.

Pakistan’s army lifted its curfew in the battle-scarred Swat Valley today, allowing thousands to flee as troops prepared for street-by-street battles with Taliban militants entrenched in the valley’s biggest town.

PAKISTANI commandos dropped from helicopters behind Taliban lines in the Swat Valley in a widening offensive that the military said has pushed the number fleeing fighting in the north-west to 1.3 million.

Tens of thousands of civilians, many on foot or donkey-led carts, took advantage of a lifted curfew to flee Pakistan’s embattled Swat Valley, while the army said it had killed 400 to 500 militants in its battle against the Taliban.

THOUSANDS of fearful civilians, many on foot or using donkey-pulled carts, streamed out of a conflict-ridden Pakistani valley yesterday as authorities briefly lifted a curfew. The army said it had killed scores of militants in the latest fighting.

PAKISTANI forces attacked Taliban militants in the Swat valley yesterday, as concern grew about the fate of nearly a million people displaced by an upsurge in violence.

HELICOPTER gunships and mortar teams pounded militant strongholds yesterday, killing dozens outside emerald mines, the military said, as Taliban reinforcements poured down from their mountain hide-outs and seized homes and government buildings.

CLASHES in a north-western region of Pakistan covered by an increasingly fragile peace pact killed seven militants and one soldier yesterday, authorities said, adding to strains on an agreement seen in the West as a capitulation to extremists.

PAKISTANI helicopter gunships and ground troops pounded Taliban fighters yesterday, killing up to 60 militants and destroying a dozen would-be suicide bombers in fierce fighting, the army said.

PAKISTANI airstrikes killed dozens of Taliban fighters in a fierce struggle to drive them from a district near the capital, while the militants took over police stations and kidnapped more than 50 security forces, the army said.

The local government will distribute 30,000 rifles to villagers to help security forces fight the growing strength of Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, a top official said today.

Pakistan’s army said today it has captured a key militant stronghold near the Afghan border, a breakthrough in an offensive against the Taliban and al-Qaida. It acknowledged for the first time that 95 civilians had died during the offensive.

Pakistani forces killed up to 30 militants close to the Afghan border today as the region’s chief minister told a top US diplomat he wanted to resolve problems there through dialogue.

Pakistan insisted today it has not made a deal with the US allowing it to fire missiles at militant hide-outs after an American newspaper quoted the new president as suggesting otherwise.

PAKISTAN’S military has ordered its forces to open fire if US troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said.

Security forces have killed 15 militants and detained 60 others, the Pakistan army said today, in the first major action against insurgents under the country's new government.

Militants loyal to Pakistan’s top Taliban commander killed at least 22 rivals from a pro-government faction, officials said today.

Pakistan’s president today vowed that crucial parliamentary elections would go ahead tomorrow as planned despite a massive suicide car bombing at a campaign rally that killed up to 46 people – many of them supporters of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

A coalition of Taliban militants in Pakistan declared an "indefinite" ceasefire today in fighting against Pakistani security forces.

The Pakistani military has pounded an extremist stronghold near the Afghan border where a rebel leader blamed for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is believed to be hiding, officials said.