Gunmen opened fire with assault rifles on a passenger train in south-western Pakistan, sparking a gun battle with security forces, a railway official said. There were no immediate reports of injury.

A 5.1-magnitude quake rattled parts of south-western Pakistan tonight, causing people to rush out of their homes in panic. No casualties were reported.

At least 129 people have died in recent sweltering temperatures in Pakistan, many of them in eastern Punjab province, the health ministry said today.

A home-made bomb exploded at the main square of a remote town in south-western Pakistan, killing one passer-by and slightly injuring three others, police said today.

Seventeen minority Hindus were killed when their temple was hit by rockets during fighting between renegade tribesmen and security forces in a tribal town in south-western Pakistan, a government official said today.

Foreign aid workers - including those from Irish aid group Concern - have taken shelter in a hotel in the Pakistani city of Quetta after warnings Taliban rebels were planning suicide attacks against their offices.