Kabul, January 11
Air and ground assaults by NATO-led and Afghan forces killed up to 150 insurgents who infiltrated Afghanistan from Pakistan overnight, the Afghan and NATO military said today.

The men were seen gathering on the Pakistan side of the border and crossing into the eastern province of Paktika in two large groups, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

They were "monitored, tracked and subsequently engaged in Afghanistan, through the coordinated use of both air and ground fire in a series of engagements," it said in a statement.

Afghan defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP that NATO bombed the insurgents just 2 km from the Pakistan border in Barmal district. Afghan ground forces also attacked, he said.

"Initial battle damage estimates indicate as many as 150 insurgents were killed," ISAF's statement said. The defence ministry put the toll at around 80 suspected militants.

ISAF said Pakistani military liaison officers were kept fully informed throughout the operation.

The strike comes amid a row between Afghan and Pakistani officials about ways to curb the cross-border movement of Taliban-linked militants waging an insurgency in Afghanistan.

After complaints from Kabul that it is not doing enough to stop the fighters from crossing over from bases and training camps in Pakistan, Islamabad has proposed fencing and mining parts of the porous frontier.

Afghanistan has strongly rejected the plan, saying Pakistan would do better addressing the roots of extremism such as supporters of militant training camps. — AFP

London, January 11
Britain will cut troop levels in Iraq by almost 3,000 at the end of May, the Daily Telegraph reported today, citing a timetable for withdrawal the newspaper said it had seen.

Within the next two weeks, Prime Minister Tony Blair would announce the reduction to Britain’s 7,200-strong force based in the south of the war-ravaged country, it said The news came as US President George W Bush prepared to outline plans to send another 21,500 US troops to Iraq.

A spokeswoman at Blair’s office and a Ministry of Defence spokesman dismissed the Telegraph story as speculation.

“Our withdrawal from Iraq, we have always said it will be conditions based,” the defence ministry spokesman said. “We would like to reduce our force levels as the Iraqis increase their ability to provide security for their own country.”

The Telegraph, however, said it had seen a timetable for the withdrawal that would see the number of British troops fall to 4,500 by May 31.

The document revealed that barring “major hiccups” in the next few months, 1 Mechanised Brigade would enter Iraq with a much smaller force when it replaced 19 Light Brigade in June for a half-year tour, according to the Telegraph.

Blair yesterday said British operations aimed at preparing for the handover of security in Basra to Iraqi authorities could be completed in the next few weeks.

His comments may suggest an earlier handover than had been previously thought. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said in November last year that Britain could hand over control of Basra to the Iraqi government in spring 2007. — Reuters

Arbil (Iraq), January 11
US forces raided an Iranian representative’s office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil early today and made a number of arrests, Iraq’s state television and a Kurdish station reported.

There was no immediate comment on the reports of a US raid in Arbil from the American military. Iranian Foreign Ministry officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Iraqiya state television said US forces also confiscated computers and documents in the raid on the building in central Arbil. A Kurdish station said Kurdish security forces had taken over the building after the Americans left the area.

US officials have repeatedly accused non-Arab, Shi’ite Iran of interfering in the affairs of Iraq, where the long-oppressed Shi’ite majority in now in power.

In December, US forces in Baghdad arrested a number of Iranians they said were su Rs 2 lakh from Rs one lakh by the Madhya Pradesh government as per the guidelines of the Centre.

In case of death within eight to 30 days from discharge, the family of the operated person will be given compensation of Rs 50,000, while in case of operation failure, Rs 25,000 will be paid as compensation to the affected person. For post-operation complications, Rs 25,000 will be paid for treatment, Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi said.

The state government has issued directives regarding revised compensation to health officials in all districts, Mr Vishnoi added. — UNI

Scientists determined it was a meteorite that crashed through the roof of their central New Jersey home more than a week ago.

While extraterrestrial rocks fall to the Earth with some regularity, it is rare for them to strike homes.

“The fact that something from outer space hit our house ... it’s overwhelming,” Shankari Nageswaran said in an interview. She and her husband, Srinivasan Nageswaran, a 46-year-old consultant for information technology companies, are from India and have lived in Freehold Township since 2003.

On the night of January 2, Srinivasan Nageswaran walked into his bathroom and spotted a hole in the ceiling and small chunks of drywall and insulation littering the room.

The family initially thought an old patch job in the ceiling had come loose. The mystery deepened after Shankari Nageswaran started cleaning up. On the floor directly below the hole, under an evergreen bath mat, the tile was dented. There was another dent on the wall.

Near the back of the toilet, she found a metallic rock, about the same size and shape as the hole in the ceiling. The sparkly rock was the size of a golf ball but heavier at 13 ounces.Two geologists from Rutgers University, along with an independent metallurgist concluded that the rock - tentatively named “Freehold Township” - was an iron  meteorite. — AP