Islamabad - The official death toll from the devastating earthquake that hit south-western Pakistan a day ago climbed to more than 230 as the rescue workers searched for entombed survivors, officials said on Thursday.

Many of the around 20,000 people left homeless spent the freezing night in the open as a series of mild aftershocks struck the northern parts of Balochistan province that was rattled by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake just before dawn on Wednesday.

Pakistan Government is trying hard to get financial help from the International Monetary Fund. The country is facing grim financial situation and has sought help with $300 million loan from the World Bank (WB). The loan had been approved but stalled after the opposition of IMF. As per the reports of BBC, the International Monetary Fund is not in the favor of providing financial help to Pakistan to repay its debts.

Pakistan's foreign currency reserves are continuously falling at a rate of $1.0 billion per month. The country needs around $15.0 billion from foreign lenders to restore normalcy in the financial system.

Washington, Oct 30 : After Pakistan summoned US envoy Anne Patterson on Wednesday to lodge strong protest over continued air strikes in its tribal areas, Washington said last evening that it was ready to discuss Pakistan’s “very serious problem” of extremism anytime the authorities in Islamabad wished to.

But, it vowed “no let-up” in counter-terrorism efforts there, reported The News.

Islamabad, Oct 30 : Pakistan reportedly summoned US Ambassador Anne Patterson last evening and lodged a strong protest against the continued air strikes by US drones inside Pakistani territory, thereby “violating its sovereignty”.

The US envoy was told that the missile attacks had resulted in the loss of lives and property.

“The US ambassador was called to the Foreign Office today and a strong protest was lodged against the continued missile attacks by US drones inside Pakistani territory,” the Daily Times quoted a Foreign Office spokesperson as saying.

The Foreign Office said such attacks were a “violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty” and should be stopped immediately.

Islamabad, Oct 30 : Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reportedly established that foreign nationals were the real target of the Marriott Hotel suicide attack on September 20, and claimed that they have identified the mastermind behind the attack and those who actually carried it out.

The investigation done so far rejected claims that the targets of the attack were the political leadership of the country, the Parliament House or the Prime Minister House.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed Wednesday "deep sadness" at the deaths and destruction caused by an earthquake in Pakistan's Baluchistan region, and offered UN assistance for the victims and families.

A spokesperson said Ban extended "his deepest condolences to the families of those who have been killed, injured or made homeless by the earthquake."

"The UN stands ready to lend its assistance to efforts to respond to humanitarian needs created by the disaster, including by using existing resources and providing grants from emergency funds, and to mobilize international support for that response, if required," Ban said.