Pakistan says it drives militants into Afghanistan (Reuters)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistan has driven a group of militants from a stronghold in its tribal areas into eastern Afghanistan, the army said on Sunday, in the latest flare-up along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

With each country blaming the other for failing to crack down hard enough on militants, the fighting threatens to raise tensions as the United States prepares to announce a gradual withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan next month.

A Pakistan army statement said it had launched an air and ground assault against a militant stronghold in Mohmand tribal agency and killed 25, while the rest fled across the border.

The area lies opposite the Korengal Valley, from where the United States pulled back its troops in 2010 after deciding to concentrate its forces in population centers in southern Afghanistan, the heartland of the Taliban.

Pakistan complained the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Kunar province opened up safe havens for militants and left it vulnerable to counter-attack after it drove them out of its own tribal areas.

"It was a thickly forested and mountainous area," a paramilitary officer told Reuters. "Whenever we launched operations, militants fled to Afghanistan and then returned and based in the area."

The Pakistani complaints mirror those made by U.S. officials who say fighting in Afghanistan is undercut by militant sanctuaries in Pakistan. It is impossible to obtain independent verification of military activity in the remote border areas.

The latest operation, launched on Saturday, was carried out in the same area where Pakistan on Friday complained that NATO aircraft had attacked one of its military posts after intruding 2.5 km (1.5 miles) inside Pakistani territory.

Pakistan expressed serious concern to the United States over the intrusion. Local officials said a few bombs were dropped but no casualties were reported.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been strained since the unilateral raid by U.S. forces who killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad on May 2.

U.S. forces have also stepped up attacks on militant targets by drone aircraft in the tribal areas and Washington is pushing for the Pakistan army to further expand its operations there.

Pakistani officials say, however, that its military is already overstretched. It also wants a commitment from the United States that its troops will secure its side of the border. Otherwise, it says, its own troops and people become vulnerable to attack by militants based on the Afghan side.

"Almost all of the militant leaders wanted in Pakistan are hiding across the border and they keep sending fighters here to attack our forces and villagers," a senior military official told Reuters.

Last week Pakistani officials said six civilians were killed in a cross-border raid on three villages in Bajaur agency to the north of Mohmand, the second such incursion this month.

On Friday, the foreign ministry summoned the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad and lodged a protest over what it said was a cross-border attack by 100 to 150 militants.

(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider, writing by Myra MacDonald, editing by Angus MacSwan)

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Mom drives into river, drowning 3 kids, self

Update at 9:14 a.m. ET: New York City's WPIX reports that police had responded to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance at the victim's nearby home 10 minutes before the incident but found the place empty.

Newburgh authorities plan to give a news conference about the tragedy at around 10 a.m. ET.

Earlier post: A mother and three of her children drowned late Tuesday after she drove her minivan with everyone inside into the Hudson River, but not before first letting out a fourth child who ran for help, the Times Herald Record reports.

Police say the incident is apparently related to a domestic dispute at a home near the river in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City.

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Mother, 3 children dead after she drives van into river

Mom, kids dead after car goes into riverSTORY HIGHLIGHTSA mother and 3 children are found dead after their van runs into the Hudson RiverAuthorities don't know if the woman deliberately drove the van into the waterRELATED TOPICSHudson RiverDeath and Dying (CNN) -- A mother and three of her children were found dead after the woman drove her van into the Hudson River Tuesday night, a fire department official said.

The woman drove her van into the river in Newburgh, New York, according to Michael Vatter, the city's fire chief.

A 10-year-old boy alerted authorities to the incident upon arriving at the city's fire station shortly before 8:00 p.m., Vatter said. Responders found the van approximately 25 yards offshore in 8 to 10 feet of water, according to the chief.

Vatter said it's "hard to tell" at this point whether the woman drove the van into the water deliberately.

"There was apparently a domestic disturbance just prior to this incident involving that family," Vatter said.

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