Pakistan says its army has recaptured the hometown of Taliban chief Hakimullah Mesud. Kotkai, in South Waziristan, which the Taliban had retaken earlier this week, fell after three days of fierce fighting.

There is no word on the Taliban leader's whereabouts. The town's capture is part of a large-scale ground offensive Pakistan's army launched a week ago, pitting 30,000 troops against an estimated 10,000 Taliban and 1,500 al-Qaeda militants. Over 100,000 people have already fled the violence. Over the past month terrorist attacks across the country have killed nearly 200 people. A US missile strike carried out on Saturday by an unmanned drone on the house of a Taliban commander in the Bajaur district, north of Waziristan, left ten people dead.

Photo: Afghan refugees waiting for food (EPA)