Islamabad, Nov 3 : President Asif Ali Zardari has termed drone attacks on Pakistani territory as counter-productive, and said on Monday that these raids should be stopped and focus should be more on enhanced coordination and intelligence sharing.

“Continuing drone attacks on our territory, which result in loss of precious lives and property, are counterproductive and difficult to explain by a democratically elected government. It is creating a credibility gap”, he said.

Islamabad - Four Islamic militants were killed by Pakistani troops Monday as the new commander of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, General David Petraeus, held talks with the Pakistani leadership, officials said.

Gunmen in North-West Frontier Province also abducted an Afghan national believed to be a United Nations employee.

The militants were killed when security forces started pounding insurgent positions Sunday night in the Mamoond and Chahrmang areas of the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan with artillery fire and the operation continued until Monday morning.

Islamabad, Nov 3: PML-Q chief and former Pakistan premier Ch. Shujaat Hussain has reportedly said the water crisis (between India and Pakistan) could become “extremely dangerous” unless the ongoing water crisis is resolved under the Indus Water Treaty.

“The issue may become more serious than terrorism and can result in a war between Pakistan and India,” the Daily Times quoted Shujaat as saying in a statement.

He said the Indus Water Treaty of 1962 needed ratification by the governments of India and Pakistan.

Peshawar, Nov 3: The quake-hit people in Balochistan are begging for shelter from the Pakistani authorities ahead of the winter season.

A strong earthquake of 6.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale had struck the province on Wednesday, killing at least 215 people and destroying thousands of mud houses.

The epicentre was in Ziarat – a picturesque valley where night-time temperatures have falling below freezing.

“We’ve got food, we’ve got relief, but we don’t have tents which can save our children from the cold,” said Rehmat Kakar, a 70-year-old farmer standing by the rubble of his house in Wam Khazi village.

Lahore, Nov 3: The Pakistan unit of the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) has reportedly said that none of its affiliate organisations was under the influence of Al Qaeda, and that it was ready to hold peace talks with the Pakistan government.

Neither the TTP nor any of its affiliate organisations is under the influence of Al Qaeda, the Daily Times quoted TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar as saying.

“The TTP had nothing to do with Al Qaeda,” he reiterated.

The TTP was sincere in peace talks with the government, he said and added that any effort to resolve the disputes in the Tribal Areas by force would prove to be fruitless.

Islamabad, Nov 3: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has reportedly said that his government won’t take any action against the country’s former president Pervez Musharraf as long as he stayed away from politics.

Gilani described Musharraf as a relic of the past whom his government didn’t want to disturb now.