Pakistani forces battled militants in South Waziristan on the Afghan border on Sunday as a government official said an offensive in the Swat valley could be over in two or three days.
Pakistani forces have undertaken their most concerted offensive against an expanding Taliban insurgency that has raised fears for the nuclear-armed U.S. ally’s stability and the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
The focus of the fighting has been the former tourist destination of Swat, 120 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, which the Taliban virtually took as the government alternated …

Days after Israel blasted a United Nations report claiming the IDF had failed to take adequate precautions to ensure that UN installations and civilians in the Gaza Strip would not be harmed during Operation Cast Lead, a UN team set up to probe alleged war crimes announced plans to visit Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The fact-finding mission appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate rights violations during the Gaza war also renewed a call for Israel to support its investigation.

John Solecki, the head of the UN refugee agency’s office in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, was found on Saturday night by the side of a road near Quetta, the provincial capital, with his hands and feet bound, pleading: “Help me, help me!”
Ethnic Baluch separatists had earlier claimed responsibility for the abduction and at one point threatened to kill Mr Solecki — the highest-profile Westerner to be kidnapped in Pakistan since Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was beheaded in 2002. News of Mr Solecki’s release came …

After agreeing to bury their differences and unite forces, Taliban leaders based in Pakistan have closed ranks with their Afghan comrades to ready a new offensive in Afghanistan as the United States prepares to send 17,000 more troops there this year.
In interviews, several Taliban fighters based in the border region said preparations for the anticipated influx of American troops were already being made. A number of new, younger commanders have been preparing to step up a campaign of roadside bombings and suicide attacks to greet the Americans, the fighters said.
The …

Osama bin Laden is a member of the prominent Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, best known for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Eight Pakistanis, mostly policemen, were killed when commando-style gunmen attacked the convoy with rocket-propelled grenades and AK47 machine guns.
The poor security for the visitors and the ease with which the terrorists were able to target the team, has further isolated both Pakistan as a global hub of terrorism and a venue for international cricket.
President Asif Zardari was forced to apologise to his Sri Lankan counterpart yesterday for the lack of protection, while the International Cricket Council officials said it was unlikely that international cricket matches could be played in Pakistan …

Pakistan offered a reward of $125,000 this morning for information about the 12 masked gunmen who ambushed Sri Lanka’s cricket team, as conspiracy theories multiplied about who was behind the Mumbai-style attack.
While police continued to scour the eastern city of Lahore for the gunmen, all of whom escaped, the government of the eastern province of Punjab appealed for help from the public in most national newspapers.
Officers announced today that they had arrested “some suspects” behind the attack, but the gunmen were still at large.
“The dignity of the country has been …

Russia is prepared to fight for the highly lucrative arms market of India. Delhi will assign $35 billion for the five-year program to completely rearm the national armed forces. A third of this amount falls for aviation. About $10.4 billion is to be spent on purchasing 126 up-to-date fighter jets. Several other billion dollars will be used to acquire 197 light helicopters.
ndia has become one of the largest arms importers during the recent years due to the nation’s complicated relations with Pakistan. A third Indo-Pakistan war may break out …

Hamid Karzai is the current President of Afghanistan, since December 7, 2004. He became a prominent political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Mexico has made headway in its struggle against the country’s powerful drug cartels, but the crackdown has led to more violence as criminal gangs battle for diminishing profits, the United States said on Friday.
The State Department’s annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Report also said Afghanistan slashed opium poppy cultivation by 19 percent in 2008 after two years of record highs.
But drug trafficking and poppy cultivation continued to fuel insurgencies in Afghanistan’s less secure southern areas, it said.