Earthquake strikes northern Pakistan

September 30th, 2009 JAKARTA -A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Jambi province in Sumatra in Indonesia Thursday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, seismologists said. The quake struck at 8.52 a.m.

September 21st, 2009 LHASA - An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Bhutan Monday afternoon and the tremors were felt in Lhasa, authorities said. The tremors struck at 4:53 p.m.

September 12th, 2009 CARACAS - A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked several parts of Venezuela Saturday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage. Jesse Chacon, the minister for science, technology and industry, said the earthquake took place at a depth of about 15.9 km and its epicentre was located 28 km northeast of Moron in Carabobo state.

June 18th, 2009 Suspected US missile strikes in Pakistan kill 5ISLAMABAD — Government officials say five people are dead after suspected U.S. missile strikes hit the hide-outs of a Taliban commander in northwestern Pakistan.

June 4th, 2009 KARACHI - At least seven trained Al Qaeda commanders have entered Pakistan to carry out attacks on President Asif Ali Zardari and other important personalities in the country, Pakistan intelligence agencies have learnt. According to the Daily Times, a meeting between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and top al-Qaeda commanders took place in Afghanistan's Paktiya province on May 3, where it was the decided that both outfits would carry out joint terror strikes across Pakistan.

May 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - : A key US lawmaker has criticized Pakistan for maintaining a double faced commitment over the US drone strikes inside its geographical territory with condemning the attacks publicly and approving them privately. Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin said Pakistan must publicly admit that it supports the drone strikes being carried out against the Taliban and other extremists in the lawless tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

May 7th, 2009 LAHORE - While Pakistan has been continuously objecting to the US led drone targeting of the extremists in the lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border, it is highly unlikely that the United States would suspend the missile strikes any time soon, as they have resulted in sanitizing several top Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives. A weekly report by the by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad stated that the Obama Administration considers the drone strikes a very successful tool to counter the terror threat, so it is unlikely that the strikes would be suspended in the near future.

May 3rd, 2009 LAHORE - The top adviser to the US army chief in Afghanistan, David Kilcullen, has observed that the US drone strikes in Pakistan are creating more enemies than eliminating them, and hence, needed to be "called off." Responding to a congressman on what the US government should do in Pakistan, he said: "We need to call off the drones." The Daily Times quoted Kilcullen, as saying that he has no objection to killing "bad guys" in Pakistan. However, he added that the strikes were creating more enemies than they eliminate.

February 21st, 2009 SRINAGAR/ISLAMABAD - An earthquake of moderate intensity rocked the Kashmir Valley in India as well as the Pakistani capital Islamabad Friday morning, triggering panic among residents. 'The earthquake occurred at 9.18 a.m.

February 19th, 2009 SRINAGAR/ISLAMABAD - An earthquake of moderate intensity rocked the Kashmir Valley in India as well as the Pakistani capital Islamabad Friday morning, triggering panic among residents. 'The earthquake occurred at 9.18 a.m.

February 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 26 people were killed Saturday when a suspected US drone fired two missiles on a militant hideout in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, an intelligence official said. Seven people were also injured in the attack in South Waziristan, a known sanctuary of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants launching cross-border attacks on international troops in Afghanistan.

January 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has no agreement with the US that allowed drone attacks inside its territory, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Wednesday. 'There is no understanding between Pakistan and the United States on predator attacks,' said Muhammad Sadiq in response to the statement by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates that US would continue such attacks against militants and that Pakistan was aware of this.

January 9th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - India should not talk of 'surgical strikes' on Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attack, as forces were ready to 'retaliate to any aggression', former president Pervez Musharraf said Saturday. 'India should not talk rubbish like surgical strikes.

December 28th, 2008 ISLAMABAD - An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale jolted most parts of northwestern Pakistan Monday morning, a seismological centre said. The moderate earthquake also shook Pakistan's capital Islamabad, but there was no immediate report on casualties.

December 28th, 2008 ISLAMABAD - A moderate earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale struck northwestern Pakistan Monday morning, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, meteorological authorities said. The earthquake, at a depth of 140 km, hit at 8:37 a.m., the US Geological Survey said.