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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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Afghan forces end Khost siege
Afghan security forces have killed several Taliban fighters who barricaded themselves inside government buildings in the city of Khost after taking a number of people hostage, the interior ministry has said.At least 10 fighters wearing suicide vests and carrying AK-47s and grenades, had attacked the governor's office and the municipal headquarters in the provincial capital of southeastern Khost on Tuesday."Fortunately the operation is over now," Zmaray Bashari, an interior ministry spokesman, told. "The security forces, as a result of giant operations, overwhelmed and overcame all these attacks and all the bombers were either targeted by security forces or detonated during the exchange of fire," he said.Afghan forces, supported by the US military, battled the Taliban fighters for several hours before the siege was ended and the captives were freed."The capacity and efficiency of the security forces resulted in the rescue of all those who were taken hostage," Bashari said.
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751 militants, 29 soldiers killed in Malakand
Multiple blasts hit Afghan city
IMF relaxes Pakistan’s budget deficit target
The International Monetary Fund announced on Monday a preliminary agreement to raise the budget deficit target Pakistan must meet to take advantage of international aid.Following a meeting with Pakistani authorities in Dubai over the past week to discuss the IMF’s $7.6 billion standby agreement with the country, the IMF agreed to raise the deficit target for fiscal year 2009-2010 to 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product from 3.4 per cent.‘The slowing economy, additional donor support and the need to protect priority expenditures call for a relaxation of the fiscal deficit target for 2009/10,’ the IMF said in a statement issued in Washington after its mission returned from the region.Shaukat Tarin, the prime minister’s financial adviser, held two rounds of meetings with IMF and World Bank officials over the past two weeks.President Asif Ali Zardari too met senior IMF and World Bank officials in Washington last week, discussing various measures to help stabilise economy.President Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai also held a joint meeting with the World Bank president and agreed to expedite efforts to promote electricity trade between South and Central Asian regions.
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Pakistan 'captures Taliban hideout'
The Pakistani military claims to have captured a Taliban rear-base - believed to be the stronghold of Mullah Fazlullah, a pro-Taliban leader, and a centre for 4,000 fighters.The hideout in Gatt Puchar, a mountainous region in the Swat valley, was taken on Tuesday morning, with helicopters being used in the assault, military sources told.Troops were dropped into the area, which has so far proved impenetrable by land.There has been no confirmation of Fazlullah's whereabouts following the attack.Another military air attack on Tuesday killed at least eight people in a house in Sara Mhora, in South Waziristan, on the Afghan border, according to intelligence sources.Sources said several militants were killed when helicopter gunships and troops on the ground attacked a government school for girls in Gulabad from where a band of outlaws had been firing on troops. A militant vehicle was destroyed during shelling.Two civilians were killed when a pick-up carrying vegetables was hit on Badwan road. Eleven civilians were also injured in various parts of Adenzai tehsil.Troops took control of the Dir-Peshawar Highway and established checkposts at Gulabad and Kharkanai. The armed Taliban had set up checkpoints on the highway and were patrolling from Chakdara to Talash.The assault is thought to have been carried out by a US drone.