One in three "militants" killed in US Predator Drone attacks in Pakistan's remote tribal areas is in fact a civilian, according to a report by an American think tank.

US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said.

This summer, Harvard Kennedy School of Government research fellow Azeem Ibrahim published a report further detailing how America underwrites corruption in Pakistan with these unaccounted-for billions of dollars. Ibrahim described Pakistan as a “black hole’’ for US funds, enriching individuals...

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s refusal to share with other agencies even the most basic data on the bombing attacks by remote-controlled unmanned predator drones in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region, combined with recent revelations that CIA operatives have been paying Pakistanis to identify the targets, suggests that managers of the drone attacks programmes have been using the total secrecy surrounding the programme to hide abuses and high civilian casualties.

Members of Congress have been told in confidential briefings that Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear arsenal even while racked by insurgency, raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether billions of dollars in proposed military aid might be diverted to Pakistan’s nuclear program.

As the insurgency of the Taliban and Al Qaeda spreads in Pakistan, senior American officials say they are increasingly concerned about new vulnerabilities for Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, including the potential for militants to snatch a weapon in transport or to insert sympathizers into laboratories or fuel-production facilities.

President Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan.

With two missile strikes over the past week, the Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan, attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called on the United States to halt its drone attacks against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters on Pakistani soil and warned that the missile strikes were fueling militarism in the country's troubled tribal border region.

The next U.S. president must halt missile strikes on insurgent targets in northwest Pakistan or risk failure in its efforts to end militancy in the Muslim country, the prime minister warned Tuesday.

According to American and Pakistani officials, attacks by remotely piloted Predator aircraft have increased sharply in frequency and scope in the past three months.

The U.S. has given Pakistan nearly $6 billion to pursue terrorists since the Sept. 11 attacks, but with little to no proof that the money has been used for that purpose, an independent audit has found.

The Pakistani Army broadly condemned on Wednesday what it said was an airstrike by United States-led coalition forces that killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers during a clash with Afghan troops on the border with Afghanistan late Tuesday.

The United States military is developing a plan to send about 100 American trainers to work with a Pakistani paramilitary force that is the vanguard in the fight against Al Qaeda and other extremist groups in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas, American military officials said.

The Bush administration’s continued backing of President Pervez Musharraf, despite the overwhelming rejection of his party by voters this month, is fueling a new level of frustration in Pakistan with the United States.

Pakistanis dealt a crushing defeat to President Pervez Musharraf in parliamentary elections on Monday, in what government and opposition politicians said was a firm rejection of his policies since 2001 and those of his close ally, the United States.

One purpose for the new money may be to increase the presence of U.S. Special Forces on Pakistani soil in support of the Frontier Corps.

The top two American intelligence officials traveled secretly to Pakistan early this month to press President Pervez Musharraf to allow the Central Intelligence Agency greater latitude to operate in the tribal territories where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups are all active, according to several officials who have been briefed on the visit.

The U.S. military would be willing to undertake joint combat operations with Pakistani forces against Islamic militants if Pakistani leaders request the help, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday.

The Pentagon is making plans to send military personnel to Pakistan to train its security forces, taking advantage of promising ties with the country's new top general, Defense officials say.

As critical elections in Pakistan approach, President Pervez Musharraf is increasingly losing support from major constituencies, including his traditional military base, amid growing questions in both Pakistan and the United States about his ability to govern.

Pakistan has strongly criticised remarks by the head of the UN nuclear watchdog that its nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of Islamist groups.

In Pakistan -- a federation of four provinces, each associated with a different ethnic group -- the issue of ethnic identity has long been troublesome, imperiling the unity of the state.

The Pakistani government plans to postpone national elections originally scheduled for next week, raising fears of a violent reaction by the supporters of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and protests from other opposition parties.

Pakistan's political crisis escalated as the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said it would run in next week's parliamentary elections and urged supporters to channel outrage over her death into opposition to President Pervez Musharraf's regime.

Nationwide rioting brought life in Pakistan to a standstill Saturday and forced government officials to consider delaying next month's elections, as discord spread over the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

As Benazir Bhutto's body was laid to rest, violence and looting broke out across Pakistan, challenging President Pervez Musharraf's control over the nation.

As Benazir Bhutto was buried yesterday beside the grave of her father, the profound implications of her assassination were only just starting to sink in.

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented the "grim sound of arms" in the world's conflict zones from Sudan to Sri Lanka and especially the volatile Middle East, in his Christmas message.

With less than a month to go before parliamentary elections in Pakistan, independent experts say that there is little chance the polls will be either free or fair -- and that the result could be renewed tumult across the country.

The man who devised the Bush administration's Iraq troop surge has urged the US to consider sending elite troops to Pakistan to seize its nuclear weapons if the country descends into chaos.