Pakistan: 8 soldiers, 10 Taliban dead in dawn attack

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Eight soldiers and at least ten Taliban were killed after the militants attacked a Pakistani security checkpost in the lawless tribal belt before dawn Thursday, local security officials said.

More than 100 Taliban armed with rocket launchers and other sophisticated weapons attacked the post in South Waziristan, along the Afghan border, triggering a firefight which lasted for more than three hours, officials said.

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Taliban leader Mullah Omar killed

An Afghan local television network has quoted Afghan intelligence sources as saying that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been killed in Pakistan.

"Mullah Omar was killed on way from Quetta to North Waziristan," TOLO television said in its news bulletin, Xinhua news agency reported today, 23rd May.

The private television channel, however, did not provide any further details.

Meanwhile, a security official confirmed the killing, emphasizing that Mullah Omar was killed inside Pakistan.

“It is correct that Mullah Omar has been killed," the official said.

Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban, was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban leader had survived US military manhunt since the US-led invasion of on Afghanistan in 2001.

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Canadian journalist abducted in Pakistan believed dead

B.C. woman abducted in Pakistan believed dead - World - CBC News

Pakistani suspect arrested for NATO base attack

Afghanistan's intelligence agency said Tuesday it had arrested a suspected Pakistani militant who led an attack on a NATO base in eastern Afghanistan, DPA reported.

The suspect, identified as Zarmalook, was arrested in the eastern province of Nangahar after he led a group of 12 men to attack a NATO base near the provincial capital Jalalabad on April 6, spy agency spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told reporters in Kabul.

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Taliban open office in Turkey

The Turkish foreign minister has confirmed that preparations are underway for opening an office in Turkey for the Afghan Taliban. 

During a recent visit to Turkey, the president of Pakistan, together with his Turkish counterpart, made a commitment to support political initiatives to end the war in Afghanistan.

Ankara has been calling for talks with the Taliban, and having strong ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan is seen as a key element in facilitating talks.

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Taliban kill four alleged spies in Pakistan

The bodies of four men apparently killed by the Taliban for working as informers for the US, were found Tuesday in Pakistan's lawless tribal zone, officials said.

The bodies of the local men, who had been shot several times, were discovered in the Hamzoni area in the district of North Waziristan, near the Afghan border.

Notes found with the bodies accused the men of spying for the US. 'Anyone spying on the Taliban will face a similar fate,' the text was quoted as saying by an intelligence official.

Authorities said they thought the men were killed overnight and their bodies dumped by the roadside as a warning to the local tribesmen.

'All the dead are locals and belonged to the Muhammad Khel area of Dattakhel,' a second intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

Source: Afghanistan Sun, 1st March 2011

CIA contractor on trial for murder

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani court adjourned on Friday (25th Feb) the trial of a CIA contractor charged with killing two Pakistanis until March 3, dismissing U.S. demands for his release.

The contractor, Raymond Davis, shot dead two men in the eastern city of Lahore last month. He said he acted in self-defense and the United States says he has diplomatic immunity and should be repatriated.

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US drone strikes kill 15 militants

Two US drone strikes Monday killed at least 15 alleged militants linked to Al Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.

An unmanned aircraft fired four missiles into a suspected Al Qaeda training centre in the early hours in Birmal area, 13 km west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan district.

'Seven people died in the attack,' a local intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. 'Three Arabs and two Turkmen are among the dead,' the official added. The other two alleged militants were locals, he said.

Schoolboy suicide bomber kills 27

A suicide bomber in a school uniform has attacked soldiers at a Pakistani army training camp, killing 27 troops and wounding 40 others, officials said.

The attack in the northwest town of Mardan showed that despite years of army operations against their hideouts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida-linked fighters retain the ability to strike back.

Read full story at SkyNews

Militants torch NATO tankers in Pakistan

Peshawar: Wed, Feb 9

Unidentified militants in northwest Pakistan have torched four trucks carrying fuel supplies for US-led forces stationed in Afghanistan, security officials say.

In the incident, which happened on Tuesday, bombs planted underneath one of the trucks exploded in a market on the outskirts of Peshawar, Reuters reported.