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(Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed a Pakistani general and another officer on Sunday near the border with Afghanistan, the Pakistani army said, rare high-ranking casualties in Pakistan's war against militants. Major General Sanaullah Khan, along with a lieutenant colonel and another soldier, were killed in the Upper Dir district after visiting an outpost near the border, the army said. Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility for the bombing, which Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said would not affect the fight against militants. ... The attack comes after weeks of discussions within Sharif's government about whether to pursue peace talks...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The United States has long suspected that much of the billions of dollars it has sent Pakistan to battle militants has been diverted to the domestic economy and other causes, such as fighting India. Now the scope and longevity of the misuse is becoming clear: Between 2002 and 2008, while al-Qaida regrouped, only $500 million of the $6.6 billion in American aid actually made it to the Pakistani military...

The Swat offensive intensified on Thursday with the army bringing in gunship helicopters and jet fighters to target militant hideouts in the district's Khwazakhela tehsil. Meanwhile, the corps commanders were holding a meeting in the GHQ to review the operations against the Taliban. Taliban have besieged the Matta police station, and police and militants continue to exchange fire, DawnNews reported. Tens of thousands of Swat's residents have started streaming out of the valley after authorities relaxed the curfew till 06:00 p.m. The curfew in Khawazakhela however remains in tact. Swat's top administrator, Khushal Khan, said people were not being advised...

President Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday. A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOX News the money will be dedicated exclusively to "equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations."

Pakistan cancelled army leave and redeployed some troops Friday in a sign of rising tension with India. The United States urged both sides to refrain from further raising tensions, already high after India blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for attacks on Mumbai last month that killed 179 people. The latest strains followed media reports in Pakistan and India that "several" Indian nationals had been held in the last two days after bombings in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Multan. The foreign ministry in New Delhi warned Indian citizens on Friday that "it would be unsafe for them to...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Intelligence officials say Pakistan has begun moving thousands of troops away from the Afghan border toward India amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks.

<p>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks.</p> <p>India has blamed Pakistani-based militants for last month's siege on its financial capital, which killed 164 people and has provoked an increasingly bitter war of words between nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought three wars in 60 years.</p>

Pakistan's army has cancelled leave and ordered troops to report to duty because of tension with old rival India over last month's militant attacks in Mumbai, a military official and soldiers said on Friday. Tension has escalated between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India since 179 people were killed in a militant assault on several places in India's financial hub that India has blamed on Pakistan-based militants. "Leave has been cancelled because of the situation. All soldiers have been asked to report to duty," said a military official who declined to be identified.

WASHINGTON – U.S. officials watched with growing concern Friday as reports suggested Pakistan was massing troops to the India border. Such a move raises double-barreled worries: A possible confrontation between two nuclear powers and a shift by the Pakistani military away from battling the Taliban along its western Afghan edge. "We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe. U.S. military leaders have been urging both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint in the wake of the deadly Mumbai attacks that many believe originated...

WASHINGTON: The United States and India face tactics bordering on blackmail from a militarized Pakistan - where civilian control is still very dodgy - as they coordinate efforts to eliminate terrorism in the region, according to analysts and officials on both sides. In what is turning out to be an elaborate chess game in the region, Islamabad on Saturday made its "Afghan move" to counter the US-India pincer, telling Washington that it will have to withdraw some 100,000 Pakistani troops posted on its western borders to fight the al-Qaida-Taliban and move them east to the Indian front if New Delhi...

LOI SAM, Pakistan (Oct. 25) - A two-month offensive by Pakistani forces has driven militants from a stronghold through which Taliban and al-Qaida fighters had poured into neighboring Afghanistan to attack U.S. troops, the army said Saturday. But operation claimed the lives of at least 95 civilians — whose deaths are a critical issue here that observers warn can only increases sympathy for the militants. The military said its forces captured Loi Sam in the Bajur tribal region Friday after a long and bloody struggle. The town sits on a vital intersection linking the border to three neighboring Pakistan regions....

This was the scene yesterday in the Bajaur tribal region, as it has been for much of the past six weeks. Bajaur, which borders southeastern Afghanistan, is a main operating base for al-Qaeda and the Taleban; Pakistani intelligence believes that Ayman al-Zawahri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda, has been a visitor. Now it is the venue for the fiercest battle between Pakistani military and Islamic fighters since Pakistan joined the US War on Terror in 2001. More than 8,000 Pakistani troops have been involved in the six-week campaign. The generals claimed yesterday to have killed 1,000 militants so far – yet...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2008 – Pakistani soldiers manning a border checkpoint fired on U.S. helicopters flying in Afghan airspace today, Defense Department officials said. The aircraft were on a mission as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The OH-58 Kiowas never intruded on Pakistani airspace, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Pakistani fire did not hit the choppers and the American aircraft did not return fire, Whitman said. “U.S. forces always maintain the right of self-defense,” he said. “In this particular case, my understanding is they just broke off and didn’t return fire.” The incident occurred near the...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani troops fired on two U.S. helicopters that intruded into Pakistani territory on Sunday night, forcing them to turn back to Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani security official said on Monday. The helicopters violated the border in the area of Lowara Mandi, 80 km west of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, at around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. There was no official confirmation. "We don't have any information on border violation by the American helicopters," Major Murad Khan, a...

Pakistani soldiers killed at least 16 Al-Qaeda linked militants in fierce gunbattles in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. *snip* The operation involving helicopter gunships and artillery has left more than 800 people dead, mostly militants, and also displaced 260,000, officials said.

Pakistani authorities both confirm and deny the incident that took place near Angoor Adda where a US raid against alleged terrorist on 3 September resulted in the death of women and children. Pakistani general says his country is ready to defend its territory against anyone. Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Pakistani troops fired at US military helicopters forcing them to turn back after they crossed into South Waziristan near Angoor Adda, a village some 30 kilometres from Wana, the region’s largest town. “Our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away,” a Pakistani security official said in...

Report: Top U.S. Military Officer in Pakistan on Unannounced Visit With Senior Leaders ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A top U.S. military officer has flown to Pakistan for an unannounced visit with senior leaders amid Pakistani orders to fire on U.S. troops conducting cross-border raids from Afghanistan... The Pakistan's military ordered its forces Tuesday to take the offensive if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said Tuesday...

The Pakistani military has launched an offensive against militants near the main north-western city of Peshawar, security officials said. Militants have become more active in and around Peshawar in recent months, say correspondents. A contingent of troops has blocked the road towards Afghanistan, imposed a curfew and ordered shops to shut. Pakistani militant leader Baitullah Mehsud said he was suspending peace talks with the government. Pakistani forces have fired mortar rounds at suspected militant hide-outs in the mountains of the Khyber region, west of Peshawar. "There has been no resistance, so far. No casualties, so far," Malik Naveed Khan, police...

NEW DELHI — For the first time in 60 years, Pakistan has considerably reduced the number of troops along the heavily guarded border with India.The matter has come up in the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.Turmoil in Pakistan and unrest in its western areas, have resulted in Pakistani troops being pulled away in large numbers from the border areas adjoining Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Reports quoting intelligence agencies said here yesterday that the aggressively positioned eastern frontier areas adjoining India have become extremely thin. Pakistani troops that otherwise are positioned...

Islamic militants paraded 48 men on Friday described as government troops who surrendered during fighting — an embarrassment to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as he struggles to regain control of a mountainous region from Taliban and al-Qaida-linked extremists. Islamic militants said Saturday they had taken control of a police station in the volatile northwest region, hoisting their flag over its roof. Officers fled the police station in Swat late Friday, said Sirajuddin, a spokesman for a radical cleric who leads the militants. "Our flag is hoisted above Matta police station now," said the spokesman, who only goes by one name....