Pakistan sees need for crackdown in tribal belt: Petraeus

PARIS: The top US commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday that Pakistan recognised the need to take more action against insurgents in tribal regions from which they can attack NATO forces over the border.

“They recognise the need for more operations in North Waziristan,” General David Petraeus said at a university lecture in Paris in which he gave an update on the NATO alliance’s campaign to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Washington considers Pakistan’s tribal belt, which borders Afghanistan, an Al-Qaeda headquarters and the most dangerous place on earth, but Pakistan has resisted US demands for a ground offensive against insurgents there.

Petraeus said Pakistani security forces had “conducted very impressive counter-insurgency operations” but more needed to be done in the tribal belt, where US drones launch deadly attacks on suspected insurgent

Missile strike kills 4 militants in N. Waziristan

MIRANSHAH: A missile strike by a US drone on Saturday killed four militants in tehsil Datta Khel, North Waziristan.

The missile strike hit Datta Khel village area near Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, officials said.

“A US drone fired three missiles. The target was a vehicle carrying militants. Three militants were killed,” said a senior security official in Peshawar.

The vehicle was completely destroyed in attack.

Separately, a political agent in North Wazirsitan has announced an indefinite curfew in the region.

The strike was the 17th suspected U.S. missile assault this month in Pakistani tribal regions, the most intense barrage since they began in 2004. SAMAA

Team effort wins Test against Australia: Amir

LEEDS: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammed Amir has said the long-awaited win against Australia at Headingley was the result of team-work.

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Team effort wins Test against Australia: Amir

23 militants killed in Orakzai, Kurram regions

KALAYA: Security forces jet fighters pound militants infested upper Orakzai and Kurram tribal regions killing 23 suspected militants and injuring 12 others.

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23 militants killed in Orakzai, Kurram regions

Balochistan High Court All Judges Resign

QUETTA: All the five judges of Balochistan High Court have resigned from their offices to avoid references against them in Supreme Judicial Council on taking oath on PCO of November 3, 2007.

Those who submitted their resignations on Tuesday include Chief Justice BHC Justice Amanullah Yaseenzai, Justice Ahmed Khan Lashari, Justice Akhtar Zaman Malgani, Justice Nadir Khan Durrani and Justice Mehta Kelash Nath.

Registrar BHC has confirmed the resignations, saying that all the five resignations have been sent to President for approval.

More resignations from the PCO judges of Supreme Court of Pakistan and the other three high courts are expected to avoid references in Supreme Judicial Council against them as was announced in a verdict by a full bench of SC on Friday.

After Tuesday’s resignations no judge is presently available in the high court to hear the cases. It is expected that President Asif Ali Zardari would soon carry out fresh appointments in the court on the advice of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and on the recommendations of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Israel Must be Crash Zawahiri Warned to Obama

DUBAI: Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri took aim at US President Barack Obama in a new video, accusing him of continuing to spill the blood of Muslims and saying Israel was a ‘crime’ that must be wiped out, according to a US monitoring group.

He also dismissed Obama’s Middle East peace push as a “deception,” and accused Obama of seeking to create a “Palestinian state that works as a branch of the Israeli intelligence,” according to a transcript published by the SITE Intelligence Group.

“Israel is a crime that must be eliminated,” al Qaeda’s second-in-command said, according to SITE.

Zawahiri also rejected Obama’s overtures to the Muslim world as an illusion, pointing to raids in Pakistan’s tribal regions and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and speaking of “bloody massacres.”