Pakistan

Pakistan's falcon population thriving

There haven’t been many feel-good stories coming out of the tribal regions of Pakistan, which for several years now have served as the front line in the American-led fight against the Taliban and the remnants of al Qaida. The Pakistani army has launched several offensives to dislodge militant groups, the CIA has periodically carried out drone strikes in the area, and since 2008 at least 163,000 families — the actual number is likely much higher — have fled the violence.

But all of this violence and unrest has resulted in an unlikely beneficiary: the local falcon population.

Pakistan’s falcons are thriving, according to an Inter Press Service report. The violence, it seems, has made it too dangerous for hunters and poachers to operate in the area, freeing falcons of their main threat. In 2005, when the birds were labeled an endangered species, there were only 2,000 falcons in the tribal region; by 2008 the population had swelled to 8,000.

Toxic cough syrup kills 13

LAHORE, Pakistan — Thirteen people have died in a main Pakistani city after drinking cough syrup suspected of being toxic, police said Monday.

(Ishtiaq Mahsud/The Associated Press)
In a photo made Aug. 5, 2012, a Pakistani Taliban militant holds a rocket-propelled grenade at the Taliban stronghold of Shawal, in Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Pakistan's decision to launch an operation against Islamist militants holed up in a key tribal sanctuary along the Afghan border has sparked rare optimism among U.S. officials who have been demanding action for years.

Pakistan: US drones hit militant hideouts, kill 18

ISLAMABAD — U.S. drones fired missiles at three hideouts in a key militant sanctuary close to the Afghan border Friday, killing 18 suspected insurgents in the latest of a series of strikes conducted this week despite protests from Islamabad, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The strikes all took place in the North Waziristan tribal area, the target of a planned Pakistani military operation that the U.S. expects in the near future. Hundreds of militants and their family members have streamed out of North Waziristan in the past few days in anticipation of the operation, local residents said.

A driver washes his face near a truck carrying NATO supplies at the Pakistani-Afghan border, in Chaman, Pakistan, Thursday, July 5, 2012. The first truck carrying supplies to American and NATO troops in Afghanistan has crossed the Pakistani border after a seven-month long closure of the supply routes by Pakistan ended earlier this week. (AP Photo/Matiullah Achakzai)

Pakistan opens Afghan supply lines after U.S. apologizes

WASHINGTON — Ending a bitter seven-month standoff, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized to Pakistan on Thursday for the killing of 24 Pakistani troops last fall and won in return the reopening of critical NATO supply lines into Afghanistan. The agreement could save the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars in war costs.

Pakistani hospital staff cover the bodies of victims of a shooting attack by gunmen, at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, Saturday, June 23, 2012. Police said gunmen riding on a motorcycle have shot dead several people in an attack on a laundry in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)

Militants kill 13 Pakistan troops, behead 7

ISLAMABAD — Militants crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan and killed 13 Pakistani troops, beheading seven of them, the Pakistani military charged Monday. Outraged, Pakistan’s new prime minister said he would protest to the Afghan president.

A Pakistani police officer and civilians carry a coffin of a victim from the site of a car explosion in Landi Kotal, northwest Pakistan, Saturday, June 16, 2012. A car bomb exploded at a crowded bazar in a northwestern Pakistani tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, killing scores of people and left many injured, hospital and government officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Pakistan police too fat

ISLAMABAD -- Pudgy Pakistani police officers have been given until the end of the month to shrink their waistlines below 38 inches (96 centimeters) -- or get off the streets.

Pakistan acquits 4 of helping NYC bomber

ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistani anti-terrorism court freed on Saturday four men accused of involvement in the 2010 Times Square bomb plot, said a lawyer and family members of the men.

Dr. Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in the town of Abbottabad.

Pakistani who helped U.S. find bin Laden sentenced for treason

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down Osama bin Laden was convicted of high treason Wednesday and sentenced to 33 years in prison, officials said, a verdict that is likely to further strain the country's relationship with Washington.

People enjoy a meal at a roadside in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, May 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Red Cross suspends operations in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- The Red Cross has suspended operations across much of Pakistan following the killing of a British nurse working for the organization late last month, the group announced Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna arrive for a joint press conference in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, May 8, 2012. The United States and India on Tuesday called for Pakistan to do more to stop terrorism and pledged to keep up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Clinton presses Pakistan to 'do more' in fight against terrorism

NEW DELHI -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up a three-day visit to India Tuesday, downplaying differences over Iran, stressing the shared goal of a stable Afghanistan and calling for greater U.S. company access to India's booming economy.

But Clinton reserved her most pointed comments for neighboring Pakistan, which she called on to stop using its territory as a safe haven for insurgents keen on striking nearby countries or its own people.

1 year after bin Laden killed, Pakistan's role still unclear

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan -- One year since U.S. commandos flew into this Pakistani army town and killed Osama bin Laden, Islamabad has failed to answer tough questions over whether its security forces were protecting the world's most wanted terrorist.

Pakistan on Monday condemned a U.S. drone strike that killed three suspected Islamist militants in the northwest, the first since the country's parliament demanded that Washington end the attacks two weeks ago.

Pakistan condemns US strike after drone ban

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan on Monday condemned a U.S. drone strike that killed three suspected Islamist militants in the northwest, the first since the country's parliament demanded that Washington end the attacks two weeks ago.

Pakistani rescue workers amid of a wreckage of the Boeing 737 passenger plane which crashed in the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan on Friday, April 20, 2012. Sobbing relatives of those on the flight flocked to the airport, and officials said there appeared to be no survivors from the 127 people on board.(AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistani passenger jet with 127 on board crashes

ISLAMABAD  — Emergency workers with flashlights searched the smoldering wreckage of a passenger jet carrying 127 people that crashed into a muddy wheat field Friday while trying to land in a violent thunderstorm at Islamabad’s main airport.

Pakistani women walk past the house where Osama bin Laden's family are being detained in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday, April 2, 2012, in Islamabad, Pakistan. The lawyer for Osama bin Laden's family says a Pakistani court has convicted his three widows and two of his daughters on charges of illegally living in Pakistan and sentenced them to 45 days in prison. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

Bin Laden's relatives get short prison sentence

ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistani court on Monday convicted Osama bin Laden's three widows and two of his daughters of illegally entering and living in the country and sentenced them to 45 days in prison, with credit for time served, their lawyer said.

Family members of Pakistani acid attack victim Fakhra Younnus, mourn her death at Karachi airport in Pakistan on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Fakhra who committed suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of her flat in Rome, was a victim of an acid attack allegedly carried out 12 years ago by her husband, the son of a feudal politician. (AP Photo)

Female acid attack victim commits suicide in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD  -- Pakistani acid attack victim Fakhra Younus had endured more than three dozen surgeries over more than a decade to repair her severely damaged face and body when she finally decided life was no longer worth living.

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