Vajpayee’s diplomacy on test
Washington, November 8
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has picked up the threads of the multi-dimensional Indo-American dialogue here today in right earnest against the backdrop of the September 11 events that have brought world leaders closer than ever before in the global war against terrorism.

Alliance closes in on Mazar-e-Sharif
Islamabad/Jabal-US-Saraj, Afghanistan, November 8
Afghan opposition commanders said they would launch an offensive today to capture the strategic northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif from the ruling Taliban, whose positions have been pounded by withering US air raids.

Pakistan has asked the ruling Taliban regime to close it's consulate in Karachi. (28k, 56k)

Harkat chief in Afghanistan to fight USA
85 Pak ultras killed in bombing
Islamabad
Fazlur Rehman Khalil, the leader of the Pakistan-based militant outfit Harkat-ul Mujahideen, has crossed over to Afghanistan to join Taliban's fight against the USA, amid reports that 85 militants of another Pakistani jehadi outfit were killed in the ongoing US bombing.

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• Pak directs Kabul to close consulate

Pakistan arms for Taliban
Clandestine supply through relief trucks
New Delhi, November 8
Continuing with its familiar double game, Pakistan now a frontline state in the US-led war against terror, is secretly supplying arms and ammunition cleverly hidden in food and relief trucks being sent on a daily basis to Afghanistan.

17 feared dead on Sonamarg-Dras road
Chandigarh, November 8
At least 17 persons are feared to have died in blizzards and avalanches on the snow-bound Sonamarg-Dras road passing through the 14,000-feet high Zozilla pass in Jammu and Kashmir since November 3 when the Srinagar-Leh national highway was officially closed to traffic.