Islamabad, Sept 11 : Over the past seven years after 9/11, al-Qaeda has spread its violent tentacles across Pakistan, while its ally the Taliban have staged a bloody comeback both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, said an article in the globeandmail. com.

It said that both al Qaeda and the Taliban have “destabilized nuclear-armed Pakistan”, and largely taken over its northwest fringe. Afghanistan has been sent into a tailspin of violence, even as al-Qaeda, having influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, is planning terror strikes against the West.

Lahore, Sept 11: In a fresh spate of killings in Pakistan, at least 25 civilians were killed and 50 injured in a grenade-and-gun attack in a mosque in the Maskanai area of lower Dir, and Pakistani security forces claimed to have gunned down at least 30 Taliban militants in the Bajaur tribal agency.

According to the Daily Times, unidentified militants threw hand grenades in the Sunni mosque in Banai village situated less than three km from the Afghan border during Taravih prayers and fired at the worshippers.

Islamabad, Sept 10 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that a joint ‘jirga’ between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be held soon after Eid, ostensibly to resolve the issues relating to the Pak-Afghan border area.

Afghanistan has time and again accused Pakistan of fanning terrorism into Afghanistan from across the border.

“Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to initiate the Jirga process and hopefully a joint Jirga will take place in Islamabad immediately after Eid,” he said.

Stockholm - Progress has been made in reducing the production of poppy used to make opium and heroin in Afghanistan, the head of the US government's Office of National Drug Control Policy said Tuesday in Stockholm.

John P Walters said that while conditions in Afghanistan were "very difficult" there had been signs of progress in reducing poppy fields in parts of the country where security had improved including in the north and east.

Berlin - Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta Tuesday accused Pakistan of being responsible for instability along their mutual border, but also acknowledged Afghan mistakes, during an international security conference being held in Berlin.

Spanta said Pakistan was assisting international terrorism through its ISI intelligence agency and through its military.

But he also noted a "culture of impunity" within Afghanistan, where former warlords continued to hold sway in many areas and drug lords were gaining the upper hand in others.

Kabul - NATO aircraft targeted a group of Taliban militants who were surrounded by Afghan police forces in southern Afghanistan, killing 15 militants, a provincial police chief said Tuesday.

The aerial bombing took place Monday night after local police forces, acting on intelligence information, surrounded a garden in Sozak village outside Tarin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan province, Juma Gul Hemat said.