Nawaz Sharif, seen as the front-runner in Pakistan's election race, said he would not allow militant groups to attack rival India from his country and would work to improve ties with New Delhi if elected.

Imran Khan, who was seriously injured after a 15-foot fall at an election rally May 8, has appealed to people to fight for their rights.

Afghan border police, enraged by recent clashes with their Pakistani counterparts, are pleading for more weapons to take on their neighbours, escalating the tension between the two sides.

Virtually sealing his political comeback plans, a provincial High Court today banned former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf from contesting elections for the rest of his life on a day another put him in judicial custody till three days after the general elections on May 11.

India reacted furiously to May 2 death in a Pakistani jail of convicted spy Sarabjit Singh, who was badly beaten last week by fellow inmates, the latest incident to strain relations between the neighbours.

Several retired Pakistani generals have warned that the military might react if there is any move by lawyers or the judiciary to humiliate former army chief Pervez Musharraf, according to a media report on April 23.

Drone attacks are making US "extremely popular" in Pakistan, said a former chief of US intelligence who cautioned that covert action there has "never led to good results".

A Pakistani soldier was killed and another injured in a gunfight between Indian and Pakistani troops in Kashmir, a disputed incident that could heighten tensions between the nuclear neighbours after a period of rapprochement.

A US drone strike killed at least 10 people suspected to be Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northern tribal areas, intelligence sources said, days after another drone strike killed a top militant leader in the area.

Pakistan's President Asif Zardari held a private meeting with Malala Yousufzai , the teenage Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban after advocating education for girls, at the British hospital where she is being treated.