News stories by Ashfaq Yusufzai, page 23

A swine flu advisory issued by the Saudi government, banning the entry of pilgrims under 12 and over 65 years, is a blow for Hajj pilgrims as Muslims the world over prepare for Ramadan which starts this weekend.

Civilians who fled the Malakand region in northwest Pakistan after the army launched operations against the Taliban, are starting to trickle home. On Wednesday, the government said 2,885 families have returned to Swat and Buner.

For Pakistan’s Pakhtuns, hospitality is part of an old tradition that assures even strangers a warm welcome into their homes.

Thousands of people are stranded in violence-wracked Swat and Buner districts in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) because the Pakistan Taliban have refused to allow them passage to safer places.

Thousands of civilians are continuing to migrate to safer places from Upper Dir and Buner districts - the new theatres of an internal war between Pakistan’s Taliban and the military in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Few women are visiting the mausoleum of the famous 17th century mystic poet Abdul Rehman Baba since suspected Pakistani Taliban bombed it.

'My school was destroyed by (Pakistani) Taliban. I won’t be able to go back to it,' says Sumaira bibi, a grade 5 student from Matta in Swat district.

Arson attacks and killings have shut down girls’ schools and brought a thriving entertainment industry to its knees in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The past two months have seen an upsurge in violence unleashed by Pakistani Taliban in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the adjacent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.