Islamabad, Feb 9 (IANS) The Pakistani Taliban confirmed Tuesday that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in drone strike last month, ending weeks of speculation over his fate. Noor Jamal has been named the new acting leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told a private TV channel that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in the attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency Jan 14 and died recently near Multan city in Punjab province while being taken to Karachi for treatment, Online news agency reported.

Washington, Feb 9 (IANS) With the US intelligence community warning of a new terrorist attack in the next six months, two leading security experts suggest that preventive action should begin in Pakistan that remains the locus of terrorism.

Rawalpindi, Feb 9 (IANS) A former minister of Pakistan was shot and four of his body guards were killed when a group of armed assailants attacked the opposition Awami Muslim League’s office in this district of the country’s north.

AML chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, who was information minister during President General Parvez Musharraf’s government, received bullet injury in his leg and was rushed to a hospital.

Islamabad, Feb 7 (DPA) A clash between two rival groups embroiled in a land feud left 15 people dead and seven injured in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, media reports said Sunday.

The attack occurred in Sarya village of Gujrat district Saturday, the latest in a series of local clashes which have killed nearly 50 people in the last 15 years.

Munich, Feb 7 (IANS) Energy security and regional stability figured prominently in talks between National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon and his US counterpart James Jones Sunday with both sides promising to advance their strategic partnership and tackle common challenges, government sources said.

Both Menon and his predecessor M.K. Narayanan, now the West Bengal governor, are in Munich to attend the annual 46th Munich Security Conference that began on Friday. The three-day conference is being attended by top politicians, policy makers and strategic advisors from almost 40 countries.

Islamabad, Feb 7 (IANS) Concerned over rising militant attacks and threat to its security personnel due to an ongoing military offensive in the restive tribal region, Pakistan has cancelled the annual parade of its armed forces for the third consecutive year.

The Pakistan Day Parade, the biggest event of the country’s armed forces, which was scheduled for March 23 this year, has been cancelled by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on the basis of reasons given by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Tariq Majeed, Defence ministry sources said.

Kandahar, Feb 6 (IANS) Seven Afghan civilians were killed when security forces opened after mistaking them as insurgents, police said Saturday.

The villagers were gathering wood near the Pakistan border at the time of the incident.

Islamabad, Feb 5 (IANS) The US embassy here has strongly condemned Friday’s terrorist attacks targeting innocent civilians in the Karachi city.

“We extend our condolences to the victims’ families and friends, and to the Pakistani people,” it said in a statement, the Online news agency reported.

Islamabad, Feb 5 (IANS) Pakistani security officials were on high alert Friday after two bombs exploded in Karachi city, killing and injuring dozens of people, media reports said.

At least 25 people were killed and 80 injured after two bombs, one on a bridge on Faizal Road and another at a hospital, went off.

Islamabad, Feb 5 (IANS) Twenty-five people were killed and 80 injured Friday in two powerful bomb explosions in Pakistan’s Karachi city, media reports said.

The first blast took place when a bus hit an explosives-laden motorcycle on a bridge on the Faisal highway. Thirteen people were killed and 60 injured in the attack.