Police shot dead a suspected militant recruiter at a boys school in northwestern Pakistan on Monday after hearing that he was trying to sign up students for suicide bombings and holy war, police said.

At least five militants and one policeman were killed today during a gun battle at a high school in north-western Pakistan.

Hundreds of religious hard-liners chanting “Jihad!” staged rallies today in a Pakistani town against an army airstrike on a suspected al Qaida hide-out and claimed it had killed innocent labourers, witnesses said.

Police attacked stone-throwing protesters with batons and fired tear gas in the north-western city of Peshawar today – Pakistan’s third consecutive day of violent protests over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons, witnesses said.

Three people, including a prominent tribal leader, were killed when their vehicle was ambushed in north-western Pakistan today.