At least five people were killed in a bomb attack near a crowded market in north-west Pakistan today.

A suicide bomber killed 30 people outside a bank near Pakistan’s capital today, while the UN said spreading violence in the country had forced it to suspend long-term development work in the north west regions along the Afghan border.

At least four people have been killed in an explosion in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, just a few miles away from the capital Islamabad.

Two suicide car bombs killed 16 people and wounded about 150 others in separate attacks in north-western Pakistan today, just days after the Taliban warned suicide strikes were coming if the military pressed forward with an offensive.

Two car bombs killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens in separate attacks in north-west Pakistan today, just days after the Taliban warned more suicide strikes were coming if the military pressed forward with an army offensive.

Police disrupted a plan to assassinate a regional education minister in north-west Pakistan today when they engaged four militants in a gun battle that ended with a teenage suicide bomber blowing himself up.

More than half a million children in Pakistan are left with little hope of education after clashes between the army and Taliban destroyed hundreds of schools, according to the United Nations.

Dozens of artists, including singers and dancers, who left Pakistan’s Swat district after the Taliban arrived are now returning to their homes.

SECURITY forces have rescued several children forcibly recruited by the Taliban, allegedly to be used as fighters or suicide bombers, and there could be hundreds more like them, an army official has said.

ONE of Osama bin Laden’s sons was probably killed by a US missile strike in Pakistan earlier this year, US National Public Radio reported, citing US intelligence sources.

A United Nations team visited Pakistan’s battle-scarred Swat Valley today as hundreds of refugees made their way back to the troubled area.

The British Red Cross is preparing to move 14,000 people in Pakistan to higher ground before torrential rains bring more misery to refugees from fighting in the Swat valley.

INVESTIGATORS searched a wrecked luxury hotel in north-western Pakistan for evidence yesterday after a suicide bombing killed 11 people, including aid workers, in what the UN condemned as a “heinous terrorist attack”.

Investigators searched a wrecked luxury hotel in north-western Pakistan for evidence today after a bold suicide bombing killed 11 people, including aid workers, in what the UN condemned as a “heinous terrorist attack”.

Suicide attackers shot their way past guards and set off a massive blast outside a luxury hotel, popular with foreigners and affluent Pakistanis, last night, killing at least 11 people and wounding 70, including a British aid worker.

PANICKED civilians fled Pakistan’s Swat district yesterday as the government prepared to shelter 500,000 displaced people and clashes with Taliban fighters heightened fears that a peace deal was about to collapse.

Up to 500,000 people could be forced to flee the Swat valley fighting between Taliban forces and the Pakistan army, the country's government warned today.

A Pakistani leader issued a "final" appeal to Taliban militants to retreat to their Swat Valley stronghold today and salvage a peace deal that has been roundly criticised in the West.

Dozens of suspected militants fired rockets early today at a transport terminal in northwest Pakistan that is used to ship supplies to Nato troops based in Afghanistan, police 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.

Pakistani forces killed up to 35 militants close to the Afghan border as the region's chief minister told a top US diplomat he wanted to resolve problems there through dialogue.

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.

A SUICIDE bomber attacked a politician’s house in eastern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 50, officials and a witness said.

The death toll in a massive suicide blast in Pakistan’s militant-plagued north-west reached 35, officials said today, as the country prepared for the widower of assassinated ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to take over as president.

An explosives-packed pick-up truck blew up a police security checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens more, a day after a foiled militant kidnap attempt led to another 24 deaths in the volatile region.

Suspected militants bombed a van carrying prisoners in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least nine people, as fighting between security forces and extremists flared across the country’s tribal belt.

A US airstrike killed 11 Pakistani troops on the border with Afghanistan straining relations between the two supposed partners in the war on terror.

A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up yesterday at a large meeting called by tribal elders pushing for peace in north-western Pakistan, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than 100, said witnesses and officials.

A suicide bomber attacked an anti al-Qaida peace meeting attended by thousands of tribe members in north-western Pakistan today, killing at least 40 people in the third suicide blast in the region in as many days.

Security forces were searching for Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan today after he disappeared with his driver and guard while travelling by road through a volatile tribal region.

Security officials in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province said today they arrested a teenager allegedly involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last month.

Police examined clothing, shoes and the severed legs of a man today trying to determine the identity of a suicide bomber who killed at least 50 people during a holiday prayer service at a crowded mosque in north-western Pakistan.

Security forces backed by helicopter gunships killed 10 suspected insurgents today in a mountainous valley in north-western Pakistan, where the government is battling supporters of a militant pro-Taliban cleric, the military said.

Militants seized a police post and paramilitary troops set up sandbagged bunkers to bolster security in a tense town in northwestern Pakistan where supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric have taken up arms against the government, police said today.

Two top police officials were suspended in Pakistan today over a crackdown that wounded dozens of journalists and lawyers during protests against President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts at re-election.

Fourteen people were killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain road into a deep ravine in north-western Pakistan today, police said.

A car bomb exploded in the car park of a military-owned bank in northwestern Pakistan today, wounding 12 people, police said.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car at a roadside security post in northwestern Pakistan today, killing four troops and wounding eight others, officials said.

A suicide attacker drove an explosive-laden car into traffic at a busy bus station in north-western Pakistan today, unleashing a blast that killed nine people and wounded 35 others, officials said.

Three blasts struck a military convoy in north-western Pakistan today, killing 14 people in an intensifying militant campaign of violence against the government in the restive border region, an army spokesman said.

Thousands of troops were deployed to north-west Pakistan to try dissuading outlawed Islamic militants from launching a holy war against the government for its bloody attack on a radical mosque, officials said today.

Flash flooding caused by torrential rain and thunderstorms struck several villages in mountainous north-western Pakistan, leaving at least 22 people dead, a senior government official said today.

Thirteen people were killed today when suspected pro-Taliban militants attacked the house of a government official in north-western Pakistan, police said.

At least seven people were injured when a car bomb exploded in the car park of a High Court building in north-western Pakistan today, police said.