Huge quake rocks Pakistan overnight

ISLAMABAD: A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook southwestern Pakistan early on Wednesday, jolting residents of cities as far apart as Delhi and Dubai, but the epicentre was far from major population centres.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was more than 80 km underground, close to the town of Dalbandin in Baluchistan province, near the Afghan and Iranian frontiers.

Poor communications ensured there were no immediate reports from the vicinity of the quake, but despite the major strength of the shock, the great depth may have limited damage. The USGS had first said that the earthquake was very much shallower.

The USGS said the epicentre was 55 km (34 miles) west of Dalbandin, a town of about 15,000 people, and at a depth of 83km (52 miles).

In Dalbandin, several people were injured when the roofs of their houses collapsed.

North Waziristan: 4 Militants killed in Drone Strike

At least 4 militants have been killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan, Trendpk.com reported on Tuesday.

The strike took place in Spalga village, 15 kms south of Miramshah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal district, near the Afghan border.

Another security official confirmed the strike and said the drone fired two missiles.

However, more casualties are feared as some people might be trapped under rubble.

Pakistan rejects US drone campaign growth

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Saturday it would never allow any expansion in the campaign of drone strikes by the United States on its territory.

The Washington Post reported Friday that the US was seeking to expand the areas inside Pakistan where Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) unmanned aircraft — used for surveillance and to launch missile strikes — could operate.

“As for the reported suggestion by the US to carry out drone attacks beyond our tribal areas, Pakistan’s position is very clear — we would never allow this to happen,” foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told AFP.

“The Americans should rather revisit their drone attack policy and stop carrying out strikes in our tribal areas.”

Washington has massively ramped up its drone campaign against militants in areas near the Afghan border over the past two months, and argues they are highly

US seeks to boost CIA presence in Pakistan: report

WASHINGTON: The United States is trying to expand a secret CIA operation designed to eliminate radical Islamic militants’ havens located in Pakistan near the Afghan border, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Citing unnamed senior officials, the newspaper said that in recent weeks the administration of President Barack Obama had asked Pakistan to allow additional Central Intelligence Agency officers and special operations military trainers to enter the country to intensify pressure on militants.

The requests have so far been rebuffed by Islamabad, which remains extremely reluctant to allow a larger US ground presence in Pakistan, the report said.

On Friday, the United States made a new bid to improve its uneasy war partnership with Pakistan by offering a two-billion-dollar arms package but warned it will not tolerate human rights abuses.

The five-year

Eight dead as cargo plane crashes near Kabul

A cargo plane operating on behalf of a US-based company crashed into mountains and burst into flames near the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing all eight crew on board, officials said.
The plane had taken off from Bagram, one of the largest US-run military bases in Afghanistan, 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Kabul.
Local aviation officials said the plane was carrying goods on behalf of the US-led NATO force in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but an ISAF spokesman said only that he was checking those reports.
Officials gave no immediate word on the cause of the crash, which happened after dark. Five months ago an Afghan passenger jet crashed into treacherous mountains near Kabul during bad weather.
A C-130 cargo plane operated by National Air Cargo was on its way from Bagram to Kabul, Mohammad Yaqoob Rasouli, the director of Kabul International Airport, told. It disappeared from radar screens at 19:25 (1455 GMT) six miles on the radar screen northeast of Kabul airport, Rasouli told.
The tower saw a fire in the same location and we also got telephone confirmation from the area of a crash, he said, adding The plane had eight crew members: six Filipinos, one Indian and one Kenyan. Search operations have already begun.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s ministry of transport and civil aviation told that all crew on board perished. They are all dead, said the spokesman, Nangyalai Qalatwal.

Cargo plane crashes near Kabul, seven dead

KABUL: A civilian cargo transport plane crashed into mountains near the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday evening, killing all seven people on board, a local civil aviation official said.

Afghan and international forces sent a search and rescue mission and helicopters out to the area of the crash, around 25-30 kilometres (15-20 miles) east of Kabul, after the aircraft went down en route from nearby Bagram military air base.

“It was a cargo plane coming from Bagram to Kabul when it hit the peak,” Nangyalai Qalatwal, spokesman for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, told Reuters.

He said all seven people on board had died and all were foreigners, but he had no details of their nationalities.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said early reports indicated the plane was an L-100 Hercules aircraft, the civilian equivalent of a military

US drone strikes kill 7 militants in Miranshah

PESHAWAR:Two US drone strikes targeting vehicles killed seven militants on Sunday in Pakistan’s rugged tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

Both attacks took place in Asar village of Datta Khel town, some 50km (31 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district known as a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

“The US drone fired three missiles at the militants’ vehicle, killing four rebels,” a senior security official in the area said of the first strike, adding that the nationalities of those killed were not immediately known.

Another senior security official in the area confirmed the strike and toll.

The second strike, also targeting a vehicle, killed three rebels in the same village.

“Four missiles fired from a US drone on another vehicle which was going to the site of the first attack

11 militants killed in suspected US drone strike

NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Eleven militants have been killed in a suspected US drone air strike in North Waziristan.

Local intelligence officials said three missiles struck a suspected militant hideout in Shawal, near the Afghan border, killing 11 militants.

In another incident, police say gunmen shot a journalist dead in the volatile town of Hangu in the northwest.

Police said the journalist had received threats from militants after publishing stories about their activities. SAMAA

US Drone Strike in Datta Khel, 4 killed

PESHAWAR, News Trends: A US missile strike Sunday killed four persons in northwestern tribal belt, near the Afghan border, officials said.

The strike early Sunday hit Newey Adda village in the Datta Khel area near Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, officials said.

“A US drone fired two missiles. The target was a house said to be used by militants as a compound. Four militants have died,” a senior security official in Peshawar told.

Following the attack, the local tribesmen helped themselves and retrieved the dead from beneath the debris.

During the last two months the U.S. drone attacks in the North Waziristan have intensified, while the local elders have demanded for halting the drone attacks.

Blast kills 7 in Kurram Agency

PARACHINAR: A bomb exploded at a meeting of tribal elders in Kurram region near the Afghan border on Monday, killing seven people, a government official said.

“We have reports that it happened in a jirga. The death toll could be higher,” the official, Naeemullah Jan, told Reuters.

Taliban insurgents have waged a bombing campaign across the northwest region and in the Pakistani heartland, stoking concern about the stability of the U.S. ally.

The Taliban have in recent weeks kept a low profile as millions of people struggle with the country’s worst floods in memory. AGENCIES

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