Peshawar, Oct 4: United States air strikes on three villages in North Waziristan have killed at least 21 people and wounded several others.

Intelligence officials said a pilotless drone aircraft launched an attack on the village of Mohammad Khel, 30 kilometres west of Miranshah, North Waziristan’s main urban centre, at around 9:30 p. m. on Friday.

One intelligence official said at least 12 people had been killed in the attack, including some foreigners.

However, Taliban sources in the area said that eight people were killed and seven were wounded.

Washington, Oct 2: General David McKiernan, the commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, has reportedly not ruled out holding talks with the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar for ensuring peace in the country. He also called for enlisting tribes to help achieving the desired objective.

He said that the US-led coalition needed more troops for what, according to him, was increasingly a “tough fight” in eastern and southern Afghanistan.

London, Oct 2: Pakistan’s intelligence agency the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) may have provided help to the Taliban with arms and other aid to fight against the Afghan government in 2005, besides providing them training and intelligence in specialist camps in Pakistan.

This has been revealed by a leaked Spanish intelligence document.

The secret document, marked confidential and bearing the official seal of Spain's ministry of defence, was published on the website of Spanish radio. It shows that Spanish intelligence officials had reason to believe that the ISI was helping to procure improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in attacking vehicles at a time when coalition forces appeared to be winning against the insurgents.

Islamabad, Oct 2: In the aftermath of the September 20 devastating bomb blast on hotel Marriott killing 60 people in Islamabad, the British Government has decided to withdraw the children of all its diplomats based in Pakistan after conducting a security review.

Presently, there are a total of 60 children of British diplomats in Pakistan and will soon leave the country.

“Following a review of security in the wake of the attack on the Marriott Hotel, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has decided that the children of UK-based staff at the British High Commission in Islamabad should return to the UK,” The Telegraph quoted a Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman as saying.

Washington, Oct 2: Suspense still prevails over the death of Pakistan Taliban’s (TTP) top commander Baitullah Mehsud, even as the country’s intelligence officials cast doubts over the reports claiming he died of a prolonged illness on Tuesday night.

The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) quoted one of Mehsud's sub-commanders Sami Yousafzai as saying that he had met with the militant leader on Tuesday night and that “his blood sugar level was improving, and with it, his general health”.