Mingora, July 31: Militants in Pakistan’s Swat tribal area have reportedly warned the local politicians, including leaders representing the area in the provincial assembly and the National Assembly

Lahore, July 31: The Pakistan unit of the Taliban – the Tehreek-e-Islami Taliban Pakistan (TIP) has reportedly threatened the owners of CDs shops, Internet cafes and cable service providers to close down their activities, and warned the women to wear ‘hijab’ to ensure safety, else their face would be disfigured by acid.

The Taliban gave a 15-day notice to several “un-Islamic” businesses like video parlours and CD shops, in Kot Addu to shut down or face dire consequences, reported the Daily Times.

The computer typed letter had Baitullah Mehsud’s photograph on it along with two gunmen, and there were also Quranic verses about Jihad around the picture, said Kot Addu Police Station House Officer (SHO) Irfan Khosa.

Rawalpindi, July 31: A recent study conducted by a forensic lab in Pakistan has found that suicide bombers have developed “suicide underwear” which they use in tying explosive materials to carry out their nefarious designs.

According to sources at the Sihala Police College Forensic Lab, the study of recent suicide attacks showed that suicide bombers used “explosives-laden” under-garments, briefs in particular, to carry out the attacks.

The law enforcers normally search upper body parts sparing the “privates”, the sources said, hence assailants are increasingly using the lower body parts to dodge the searches.

Islamabad, July 31: Senior PML-N leader and former premier Nawaz Sharif’s statement on Tuesday that he will soon be having decisive talks with PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is being debated as an important development in Pakistan politics. While some dismiss it as simple rhetoric (because Nawaz is aware of the fact that parting ways with the PPP would spell a doom for his brother’s Punjab government), others are attaching meanings to it saying it might be an end to PPP-PML(N) federal coalition.

Islamabad - Seven civilians were killed Thursday in fresh clashes between government forces and Taliban fighters in Pakistan's troubled Swat valley, media reports said.

One mortar round missed its target in the Deolai area of Swat and hit a house, killing seven members of the same family, including five children. The house was completely demolished, the Urdu-language Geo news channel said in a report.

It was not clear who had fired the mortar round.

However, an army spokesman in Swat valley denied the incident. "There has been complete peace today and we have no information of any damage," Major Farooq Virk told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Peshawar, July 31: In a retaliatory action, the Pakistan Army reportedly gunned down at least 25 Taliban militants in the restive Swat valley on Wednesday. Five soldiers, including two Army officers and three soldiers, were “martyred” in the fierce battle, said a military statement issued in Peshawar.

According to the military statement, up to 70 militants attempted to storm a Pakistan Army checkpost in the Ucharai Sar area near Matta tehsil, about 20 km from Mingora. “The attack was successfully repulsed, resulting in the death of 25 miscreants,” the Daily Times quoted the military statement as saying.

The two officials killed in the battle were an Army officer and a junior commissioned officer, said the paper.