Lahore, Apr. 27 : The Tehrik-i-Nifaz Shariat-i-Muhammadi has opposed the military offensive in the Lower Dir area of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), saying the operation is a violation of the Swat peace deal.

TNSM spokesman Izatt Khan said the house and a seminary owned by TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad has been damaged in the military operation.

"The government is responsible for this damage," The Daily Times quoted Khan, as saying.

Islamabad, Apr. 27 : Heavily armed Taliban fighters are now reportedly moving towards the Kalam Valley in the upper reaches of the Swat River in Swat in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

According to The News, security forces have nabbed four suspected extremists with heavy weapons at the Khwazakhela check-post in the region.

Local residents said the extremists have set-up checkposts in Kidam and Sataal areas of Bahrain are checking all the vehicles and persons passing from the region.

Islamabad  - Taliban militants have handed over to Pakistani authorities the body of a Polish national who was beheaded in February after four months of captivity, media reports said Monday.

Piotr Stanczak, who worked for a Poland-based oil and gas exploratory firm, was kidnapped on September 28 in Attock district, just 85 kilometers from the capital Islamabad. His Pakistani guard and two other colleagues were killed during the abduction.

Lahore, Apr. 26 : Former Pakistan High Commissioner to Britain Akbar Ahmad has said that it is very important for Islamabad to safeguard the tribal regions along the Afghan border because once this territory caves in to the hands of the extremists, the task to prevent the whole country from being toppled over by the insurgents would become much more difficult.

"If you lose them, then you lose Pakistan, followed by Afghanistan, The Daily Times quoted Ahmad, as saying.

Ahmed, however said that the `existential threat' to Pakistan is overrated.

Islamabad, Apr. 26 : Heavily armed Taliban gunmen have looted at least seven trucks of chemical fertilizer used in making bombs in the Swat Valley, a report by the BBC claims.

According to the security officials, Taliban looted the vehicles loaded with ''ammonium nitrate'' in Chahar Bagh and Guli Bagh areas of the Valley.

Security officials said the extremists use the chemical for making bombs.

Lahore, Apr. 26 : Pakistan Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Athar Abbas has said that the decision to initiate a military offensive against the Taliban rests with the political leadership of the country.

Responding to allegations that the army lacks will and capaability to take on the might of the Taliban, General Abbas said that the army certainly has the will to thwart any further advancement of the insurgents.