MIRANSHAH: Seven back to back missiles fired by US drone aircrafts killed at least 12 people in North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border on Wednesday.

Five unmanned planes fired seven missiles at a militant compound and a vehicle, killing 12 people onboard, according to sources.

It was not immediately clear whether any “high value target” was present in the area at the time of the attack.

US drone attacks routinely target Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders in tribal belt and it was the 18th such attack, in which more than 100 people have been killed.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N won Wednesday?s by-elections in NA-123 Lahore and PP-82 Jhang while PML-Zia and Pakistan People?s Party clinched PP-284 Bahawalnagar and PP-25 Jafarabad, according to unofficial results received so far from the majority of the polling stations.

Malik Pervez of PML-N has returned successful with sizeable margin in NA-123 Lahore while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf?s candidate Hamid Khan Mairaj stood second.

Azam Cheela of PML-N has secured PP-82 Jhang (runner up Ghazanfar Ali Khan of PPP); Shahid Anjum of PML-Zia won PP-284 Bahawalnagar (runner up Kashif Naveed of PPP) while Sardar Nasir Khan Jamali of Pakistan People Party grabbed PP-25 Jafarabad (runner up Attaulla Bulaidi – Independent).

PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif felicitated the party?s winning candidates, terming it a victory of the people.

The vote count continues after polling process completed in four constituencies of Punjab and Balochistan during by-election.

These constituencies include NA-123 Lahore, PP-82 Jhang, PP-284 Bahawalnagar and BP-25 Jaffarabad where the strict security measures are in place.

Earlier, the polling in the above constituencies took place during 8am to 5pm.

Overall, complete calm was witnessed during the day, but some candidates leveled charges of riggings against their rival candidates.

In Bahawalnagar area of Fort Abbas, the polling had to be discontinued as a result of dispute between the polling agents of different candidates in polling station-295.

Jamaat Islami?s Hafiz Salman Butt and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) candidate Shahbaz Sharif came face to face at Lahore?s polling station-38, where the workers of both the parties raised slogans.

On this, police arrived on the spot to quench the slogans and confrontation. Police took Hamza in their cordon.

Talking to Geo News, Razia Sultana?Presiding Officer at Polling Station-126?said serial numbers are missing from the dozens of ballot papers, adding she told the same to Election Commission.

Government has announced public holiday on the occasion of by-polls in three constituencies including Bahawalnagar, Jhang and Jaffarabad.

Government and private educational institutions will remain closed in Lahore and Bahawalnagar for by-polls.

The Deputy Chairman of Senate Jaan Mohammed Jamali cast his vote in Jaffarabad

Meanwhile, Section-144 has been imposed in Jhang to maintain law and order situation during the polling.

According to Election Commission sources, 57 candidate are contesting constituency NA-123 of Lahore, vacated by PMLN-N?s Javed Hashmi. The constituency has 287,915 voters, for whom 268 polling stations have been set up. Of them, 25 have been declared as highly sensitive.

While 11 candidates including PPP and PML-N?s contenders are fighting for provincial assembly seat of PP-82 Jhang, vacated by MPA Azam Chaila, as the Supreme Court (SC) declared him ineligible on finding his degree fake. At least 126 polling stations were set up here for 153,800 voters in the constituency.

Moreover, PML-N has not nominated any candidate for PP-284 while PPP, Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid-e-Azam and Ijaz-ul-Haq?s party candidates will struggle for the provincial assembly seat.

The seat was vacated by independent candidate Rauf Khal, as the EC declared him ineligible on finding the charges of rigging against him true.

Three are at least 130 polling stations for 180,226 voters in the constituency.

The PB-25, Jafferabad in Balochistan was lying vacant after the MPA Rustom Khan Jamali was killed. At least 140,800 voters are casting their votes at 91 polling stations; of them, 34 are most sensitive and 29 sensitive.

From this constituency, the independent candidate Ataullah Bulaidi leveled rigging charges, saying that nearly 130 polling agents have been kidnapped.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks focussing on jointly fighting terrorism, strengthening bilateral ties and ways to address regional issues related to peace and security.

President Karzai, who flew in here late afternoon on a two-day visit, arrived at the Aiwan-e-Sadr and met President Zardari soon after his arrival.

The two leaders who have frequently met in the past have expressed the resolve to remove misunderstandings of the past and to jointly move forward in the fight against militancy.

During the exclusive and delegation level talks President Zardari stressed for enhanced interaction between the two countries to better cope with the issues of terrorism and extremism.

He said the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan were of great importance and termed terrorism as a common challenge to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan was determined to fight militancy to the end, which was a long drawn battle and there were no quick solutions to this problem.

During the delegation level talks President Zardari was assisted by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Secretary General to the President Salman Farooqi and Spokesman to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar.

President Karzai was aided by Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Zalmai Rasoul, National Security Advisor, Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Education Minister, Dr. Farooq Wardak and Afghan Charge d? Affaires, Majnoon Gulab.

President Zardari said Pakistan believes that military action alone was not a solution to the problem.

He stressed the need for greater economic cooperation, adding the government was determined to correct the past mistakes to carve out a better future for posterity.

Afghan President Karzai urged for a partnership which allows realization of the full potential of human and natural resources and want greater connectivity, more trade and economic cooperation.

He called for new development projects and investments in the two countries driven by energy corridors in the region.

Karzai thanked for Pakistan?s support and efforts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday stressed the need for Pakistan and Britain to work closely to further enhance their partnership in diverse areas mainly trade, investment and educational development.

Talking to Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, British Foreign Secretary?s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan who called on him Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President said the partnership should be in view to eliminate militancy and terrorism from Pakistan and promote peace in the region and the world.

The matters relating to bilateral relations between the two countries, access to Pakistani products in European Union markets, regional issues, Pakistan?s fight against militancy and the forthcoming Pak-EU Summit were discussed in the meeting.

Those who attended the meeting included Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Senator Sughra Imam, federal secretaries foreign affairs, defence, and interior and senior government officials. British Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan Peter Tibber was also present.

The President said Pakistan look forward for the continued support of the British government in the EU for access to Pakistani products into the EU markets and initiation of the process towards Free Trade Agreement.

This would help boost Pakistan?s economy and alleviating poverty by generating employment opportunities in the country, he said.

President Zardari said any initiative on Afghanistan should ensure Afghan ownership of the process as well as territorial integrity of the country and that its soil was not used against any of its neighbors.

Pakistan stands for peaceful, stable, friendly and united Afghanistan, as Pakistan is directly impacted by any development relating to Afghanistan, the President said.

The President while referring to the military surge in Afghanistan stressed the need for close coordination to avoid negative fallout on our side and cautioned against any actions that may result in pushing afghan insurgents into Balochistan province.

Development in Afghanistan should be a matter of high priority as prosperity can help stem the rising tide of terrorism and militancy, the President said and added that Pakistan is making significant contribution in reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

The President during the meeting also invited attention of the international community towards the early return of over 3 million afghan refugees still residing in Pakistan.

He appreciated the UK?s development assistance worth ?665 million and additional ?50 million assistance to support Pakistan?s development plans.

The President underlined the need for greater cooperation in the education sector as a long term measure to fight the extremist mindset and expressed the hope that the Pakistan-UK Education Task Force already set up would make speedy progress.

KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muahmmad Chaudhry has said that following the restoration; judges have displayed considerably good performance and a report in this regard will be issued this month.

The chief justice announced this while speaking to various delegates of Sindh High Court Bar Association, Karachi, Larkana, Thatta, Malir and Sanghar District Bar Associations at Supreme Court?s Karachi Registry today (Wednesday).

Speaking to members of delegates, Chief Justice Chaudhry dispelled the impression that judicial work had suffered during the last one year.

The CJ said that the cases, which were pending for the last many years, were also disposed of at lover courts.

?I have been part of top judiciary since 1990, but the real credit for current achievements goes to lawyers,? he said.

LAHORE: The vote count continues after polling process completed in four constituencies of Punjab and Balochistan by-election.

These constituencies include NA-123 Lahore, PP-82 Jhang, PP-284 Bahawalnagar and BP-25 Jaffarabad where the strict security measures are in place.

The polling remained continued from 8am to 5pm.

Overall, complete calm was witnessed during the day, but some candidates leveled charges of riggings against their rival candidates.

In Bahawalnagar area of Fort Abbas, the polling had to be discontinued as a result of dispute between the polling agents of different candidates in polling station-295.

Jamaat Islami?s Hafiz Salman Butt and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) candidate Shahbaz Sharif came face to face at Lahore?s polling station-38, where the workers of both the parties raised slogans.

On this, police arrived on the spot to quench the slogans and confrontation. Police took Hamza in their cordon.

Talking to Geo News, Razia Sultana?Presiding Officer at Polling Station-126?said serial numbers are missing from the dozens of ballot papers, adding she told the same to Election Commission.

Government has announced public holiday on the occasion of by-polls in three constituencies including Bahawalnagar, Jhang and Jaffarabad.

Government and private educational institutions will remain closed in Lahore and Bahawalnagar for by-polls.

The Deputy Chairman of Senate Jaan Mohammed Jamali cast his vote in Jaffarabad

Meanwhile, Section-144 has been imposed in Jhang to maintain law and order situation during the polling.

According to Election Commission sources, 57 candidate are contesting constituency NA-123 of Lahore, vacated by PMLN-N?s Javed Hashmi. The constituency has 287,915 voters, for whom 268 polling stations have been set up. Of them, 25 have been declared as highly sensitive.

While 11 candidates including PPP and PML-N?s contenders are fighting for provincial assembly seat of PP-82 Jhang, vacated by MPA Azam Chaila, as the Supreme Court (SC) declared him ineligible on finding his degree fake. At least 126 polling stations were set up here for 153,800 voters in the constituency.

Moreover, PML-N has not nominated any candidate for PP-284 while PPP, Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid-e-Azam and Ijaz-ul-Haq?s party candidates will struggle for the provincial assembly seat.

The seat was vacated by independent candidate Rauf Khal, as the EC declared him ineligible on finding the charges of rigging against him true.

Three are at least 130 polling stations for 180,226 voters in the constituency.

The PB-25, Jafferabad in Balochistan was lying vacant after the MPA Rustom Khan Jamali was killed. At least 140,800 voters are casting their votes at 91 polling stations; of them, 34 are most sensitive and 29 sensitive.

From this constituency, the independent candidate Ataullah Bulaidi leveled rigging charges, saying that nearly 130 polling agents have been kidnapped.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N candidate Malik Pervez has taken a massive lead in today?s by-election in NA-123, according to unofficial results that have poured in from majority of the polling stations.

The runner up in the above constituency has so far been Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf?s candidate Hamid Khan Mairaj.

Meanwhile, Azam Cheela of PML-N leads in PP-82 Jhang (runner up Ghazanfar Ali Khan of PPP); Shahid Anjum of PML-Zia has taken a lead in PP-284 Bahawalnagar (runner up Kashif Naveed of PPP) while Sardar Nasir Khan Jamali of Pakistan People Party is so far ahead of all in PP-25 Jafarabad (runner up Attaulla Bulaidi – Independent).

Earlier, the polling in the above constituencies took place during 8am to 5pm.

Overall, complete calm was witnessed during the day, but some candidates leveled charges of riggings against their rival candidates.

In Bahawalnagar area of Fort Abbas, the polling had to be discontinued as a result of dispute between the polling agents of different candidates in polling station-295.

Jamaat Islami?s Hafiz Salman Butt and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) candidate Shahbaz Sharif came face to face at Lahore?s polling station-38, where the workers of both the parties raised slogans.

On this, police arrived on the spot to quench the slogans and confrontation. Police took Hamza in their cordon.

Talking to Geo News, Razia Sultana?Presiding Officer at Polling Station-126?said serial numbers are missing from the dozens of ballot papers, adding she told the same to Election Commission.

Government has announced public holiday on the occasion of by-polls in three constituencies including Bahawalnagar, Jhang and Jaffarabad.

Government and private educational institutions will remain closed in Lahore and Bahawalnagar for by-polls.

The Deputy Chairman of Senate Jaan Mohammed Jamali cast his vote in Jaffarabad

Meanwhile, Section-144 has been imposed in Jhang to maintain law and order situation during the polling.

According to Election Commission sources, 57 candidate are contesting constituency NA-123 of Lahore, vacated by PMLN-N?s Javed Hashmi. The constituency has 287,915 voters, for whom 268 polling stations have been set up. Of them, 25 have been declared as highly sensitive.

While 11 candidates including PPP and PML-N?s contenders are fighting for provincial assembly seat of PP-82 Jhang, vacated by MPA Azam Chaila, as the Supreme Court (SC) declared him ineligible on finding his degree fake. At least 126 polling stations were set up here for 153,800 voters in the constituency.

Moreover, PML-N has not nominated any candidate for PP-284 while PPP, Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid-e-Azam and Ijaz-ul-Haq?s party candidates will struggle for the provincial assembly seat.

The seat was vacated by independent candidate Rauf Khal, as the EC declared him ineligible on finding the charges of rigging against him true.

Three are at least 130 polling stations for 180,226 voters in the constituency.

The PB-25, Jafferabad in Balochistan was lying vacant after the MPA Rustom Khan Jamali was killed. At least 140,800 voters are casting their votes at 91 polling stations; of them, 34 are most sensitive and 29 sensitive.

From this constituency, the independent candidate Ataullah Bulaidi leveled rigging charges, saying that nearly 130 polling agents have been kidnapped.

RAWALPINDI: An accountability court adjourned on Wednesday the hearing of application filed by the National Accountability Bureau seeking reopening of three corruption references against Sharif brothers.

Judge Tariq Abbasi heard the graft references about Hudabia Paper Mill, Iffefaq Foundries and Raiwand Assets against Sharif brothers.

NAB?s Additional Prosecutor General Raja Afzal and Arif Chohan appeared before the court. Raja Afzal told the court that he had been made the prosecutor in the references following the sacking of Chairman Abdul Basir Qureshi.

He pleaded the court to grant more time to prepare the case.

On this, the court adjourned the hearing till March 19.

Mar 10, Colombo: Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem will be provided with four police personnel for his security, the Attorney General’s Department informed the Supreme Court today.

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived here Wednesday evening on a two-day state visit during which he will hold meetings with Pakistani leadership on a range of bilateral and regional issues.

During his stay, President Karzai will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani.