MUSHARRAF STRIKES BACK - WITH JETS

BBC:

Pakistani warplanes have attacked suspected pro-Taleban positions near the Afghan border for a fourth day.

The army says a total of 45 troops and 150 rebels have died so far in battles around the town of Mir Ali.

Tuesday's air strikes left 50 rebels dead, unconfirmed reports say. Locals, fleeing the area in their thousands, say many civilians died.

It is the heaviest fighting for many months in North Waziristan, which the US says is an al-Qaeda safe haven.

Pakistan's President Musharraf - a vital ally in the US-led "war on terror" - is under pressure to do more to stop militants crossing into Afghanistan, where violence this year has soared.

AIRSTIKES. WOW. MUSHARRAF IS A GOOD ALLY. WE CAN COUNT ON HIM IN A CRUNCH. BETTER THAN FRANCE... WAS. NOT AS GOOD AS BRITAIN...WAS.