Pakistani Christian leader J Salik protests at Nato strikes.

Pakistan state TV said the death toll from an alleged Nato helicopter attack on a Pakistani army checkpoint near the Afghan border has risen to 25 soldiers.

Hundreds of militants have crossed the Afghan border and attacked three security checkpoints in north-western Pakistan, killing 12 troops.

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said an American drone has fired two missiles at a home near the Afghan border, killing four foreign militants.

Two Pakistani soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle near the Afghan border, intelligence officials said today.

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.

Police arrested two would-be suicide bombers planning to attack a mosque and a government building in Pakistan’s capital today.

A suspected US missile strike destroyed a home and a speeding vehicle carrying insurgents near the Afghan border early today, killing at least 15 alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

Five German militants are believed to have been killed in an American missile strike close to the Afghan border, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The co-owner of a catering company that organised events for the US Embassy is among six men detained by Pakistan for allegedly helping the failed Times Square bombing suspect, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said.

Up to 18 American missiles slammed into a Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan close to the Afghan border today, killing 14 alleged insurgents in the third such strike since a failed car bombing in New York drew fresh attention to the region, officials said.

PAKISTANI troops repulsed a Taliban attack on a checkpoint close to the Afghan border yesterday in fighting that killed six soldiers and 25 insurgents, the military said.

A suspected US drone crashed in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area near the Afghan border today, intelligence officials and a local resident said.

Pakistan may launch a new military offensive near the Afghan border where militant leaders are believed to have fled to escape a government onslaught against the Taliban in South Waziristan, the prime minister said.

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.

Militants fired on helicopter gunships and attacked Pakistani troops advancing into their main sanctuary near the Afghan border today as the army pressed ahead with its most critical offensive yet against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

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.

Three suicide bombers including a woman attacked a police station in north-western Pakistan killing 13 people today, the latest in a surge of terrorist attacks sweeping the country.

A SUICIDE bomberattacked a crowded Shi’ite mosque south of the Pakistani capital Islamabad yesterday, killing 22 people and wounding dozens more in the latest carnage to hit the US-allied nation, officials said.

A little-known group claiming responsibility for the attack on a police academy threatened more outrages today unless Pakistani troops left tribal areas near the Afghan border and America stopped drone attacks against militants.

Pakistani troops have defeated Taliban militants in one of their strongholds overlooking the Afghan border after a grinding six-month offensive, the general leading the military operation said today.

Dozens of followers of Pakistan’s top Taliban leader were in a compound when a suspected US missile attack hit today, killing 27 militants in an al-Qaida stronghold near the Afghan border, officials said.

A suicide bomber pretending to need help with his car killed 26 people in north-west Pakistan today, officials said, underscoring concerns that militant violence near the Afghan border could escalate now that Pakistan is shifting troops away from the region toward India.

Pakistan began moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border towards India today amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks.

A suspected US strike killed six people tonight on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, a lawless region believed to be a stronghold of al Qaida, two intelligence officials said.

SUSPECTED US missiles hit a house frequented by an Arab militant near the Afghan border yesterday and killed 20 people, intelligence officials said, in the latest alleged American attack on targets inside Pakistan.

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.

Hundreds of Islamic fanatics overran a remote military outpost close to the Afghan border killing or kidnapping more than 20 Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf said troops would shoot anyone attempting to disrupt next month’s elections.

The Pakistani government said today it would push ahead with its fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militants and work to ensure a peaceful election campaign after a suicide attack at a mosque near the Afghan border killed at least 50 people.

Militants today freed 211 Pakistani soldiers who were abducted near the Afghan border two months ago, the army’s top spokesman said.

Pakistan’s army said today that the death toll from three days of fighting against militants near the Afghan border has risen to 195.

PAKISTAN was in political limbo yesterday, caught between Gen Pervez Musharraf’s presidential election win and a future court ruling on whether he was even eligible to run.

Pakistan’s army has agreed to a cease-fire with militants holding some 260 soldiers hostage near the Afghan border, officials said today.

Up to 25 insurgents were killed today in a battle between Pakistani troops and militants near the Afghan border, the army said.

Police manned roadblocks and rounded up supporters of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today as he prepared to end seven years in exile and return to Pakistan to lead a campaign to topple the country’s US-allied military ruler.

US President George Bush today said he is confident in the ability of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants at the Afghan border and cooperate with the US.

A state of emergency could be declared in Pakistan because of “external and internal threats” and deteriorating law and order in the volatile north-west near the Afghan border, the government said today.

Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf today claimed that tribesmen backed by the Pakistan army have killed about 300 foreign militants near the Afghan border during a weeks-long offensive.

A fresh burst of fighting between local and foreign militants near the Afghan border killed 52 people today, a senior government official said.

Pakistan’s army destroyed suspected al-Qaida hideouts in an air strike near the Afghan border today, killing several militants including foreigners, the army said.

Thousands of angry tribesmen and Islamists protested today across Pakistan against an airstrike that killed 80 people at a religious school near the Afghan border this week, as state TV aired video footage purportedly showing militants in training there before the attack.

Air strikes on a cave complex near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan tonight killed four Taliban militants and destroyed a truck loaded with rockets, the US military said.

The US ambassador in charge of counterterrorism said today that parts of Pakistan are a “safe haven” for militants and that Osama bin Laden was more likely to be hiding there than in Afghanistan.