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| More cases of bird flu in Pakistani capital | | | ISLAMABAD
More cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu were confirmed in the Pakistani capital after dead crows found on the streets tested positive for the virus, a senior official said on Thursday.
A month after Islamabad zoo was closed due to an outbreak, the National Laboratory for Avian Influenza found that two of eight tested specimens carried the virus that can mutate and cause illness in humans, said Dr Mohammad Afzal, head of the country's livestock monitoring authority.
"I will say it is the same extension of the outbreak at the zoo that was not 100 percent controlled," Afzal said, adding that the samples were collected from roadsides and a park.
About two dozen birds either died or were culled at the city zoo in February to contain the virus that was thought to have emanated from seven donated peacocks.
Forty chickens also died of the disease in the capital's twin city of Rawalpindi.
Pakistan suffered a major outbreak of H5N1 a year ago at poultry farms in the North-West Frontier Province, prompting culling of 40,000 birds.
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40 Taliban killed in Afghanistan clashes
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: About 40 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes with Afghan and NATO security forces in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province on Thursday, police said.
"In the anti-Taliban joint operation which started on Thursday morning from both Laskhkar Gah and Gereshk, so far around 40 Taliban have been killed," the acting police chief for the province, Isau Khan, said.
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