Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Resolution Passed

A "historic" resolution to destroy Syria's chemical weapons has been passed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council.

All 15 members of the council voted in favour of the resolution, which was widely seen as a compromise between the US and Syria's key ally, Russia.

The vote after two weeks of intense negotiations marks a major breakthrough following two and a half years of paralysis that has gripped the council since the Syrian uprising began.

More than 100,000 Syrians have been killed during that time while millions have been displaced.

Russia's Sergei Lavrov votes in favour of the resolution

Russia and China previously vetoed three Western-backed resolutions pressuring President Bashar Assad's regime to end the violence.

Speaking immediately after the vote, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council: "Today's historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time."

Foreign Secretary William Hague described the development as "ground-breaking".

"The failure of the council to tackle the crimes committed on a daily basis has resulted in a culture of impunity in which a brutal regime believed it could get away with murdering its own men, women and children," he said.

UN chemical weapons experts carried out inspections in Syria

"So it is vital that the council now builds on the consensus we have reached today to make progress today towards a sustainable resolution of the crisis.

"With renewed purpose and resolve, we need to achieve a political transition."

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the "strong, enforceable, precedent-setting" resolution showed diplomacy can be so powerful "that it can peacefully defuse the worst weapons of war."

He said the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile would begin in November and be completed by the middle of next year.

Volunteers in Aleppo at a class on how to respond to a chemical attack

For the first time, the council endorsed the roadmap for a political transition in Syria adopted by key nations in June 2012 and called for an international conference to be convened "as soon as possible" to implement it.

Mr Ban said the target date for a new peace conference in Geneva was mid-November.

The resolution calls for consequences if Syria fails to comply, but those will depend on the council passing another resolution in the event of non-compliance.

That will give Assad ally Russia the means to stop any punishment from being imposed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the resolution does not automatically impose sanctions on Syria.

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Kenya Attack: New Video Shows Aftermath

Sky News has filmed pictures from the rear of the Nairobi shopping mall showing the devastating aftermath of last Saturday's Kenyan terror attack.

Hundreds of tons of masonry, debris and metal fell down several floors after part of the roof collapsed where the car park was.

The scene has been described as a 'mini Ground Zero' by one forensic expert who spoke to Sky News.

Burned out cars were filmed hanging precariously over the edge of the pit and the tin roof of the supermarket atrium was severely damaged.

Below the hole in the roof was where a cookery competition was taking place involving adults and children when the gunmen began shooting at them.

Some people said the roof collapse was caused by the terrorists starting a fire, others said it was the military who set off explosives or fired rocket propelled grenades that set off the blaze.

The pictures were filmed from a private property of resident Sukhbir Singh.

He told Sky News he heard "really loud blasts" and "several gunshots".

He said at the part of the roof which has now fallen down he saw two or three gunmen opening fire towards children, adding "it was really really bad".

Shoppers were told to leave the mall with their hands up

He went on: "They just came in and sprayed bullets without talking."

Meanwhile, new footage from the Kenyan Red Cross shows the organisation's staff helping shoppers as they emerged from Westgate Mall during last week's terror attack.

The video was filmed on September 21 - the first day of the siege and just hours after gunmen attacked the mall with assault rifles and grenades.

The organisation's secretary general, Abbas Gullet, is a prominent figure in the footage, not just overseeing the medical care of the injured, but also providing direct medical assistance himself at times.

Mr Gullet's team of medics regularly risked their own lives to bring people out of the shopping centre.

One man can be seen with is hand on a body covered with a red blanket weeping, while medical teams look on.

Video has shown people emerging from a walk-in fridge where they hid

Stretchers were repeatedly run in and out of the mall despite the ongoing attack by gunmen.

The Red Cross also helped to transport those who lost their lives in the deadly assault.

The video follows extraordinary footage obtained by Sky News showing shoppers being rescued by Kenyan forces in the aftermath of attack.

Filmed by civilian security guards, it shows how some staff in the Nakumatt supermarket climbed into the meat fridge in the butcher section and hid inside for hours to evade the shooting.

Seven days after the attack which left at least 67 people dead, there is still no clear word on the fate of dozens who have been reported missing and no details on the gunmen who carried it out.

Tributes to Briton Mitul Shah have been made over his heroic act

Al Shabaab said it carried out the massacre to punish Kenya for sending its troops into Somalia to fight the al Qaeda-linked militant group that had seized large parts of that country for years before being dislodged from the capital, Mogadishu.

The Kenyan Red Cross has said 59 people are unaccounted for, raising fears of bodies in the debris.

Meanwhile, a British man has been hailed a hero after he was killed in the Kenyan shopping mall massacre while trying to save children taking part in a TV cooking competition.

Mitul Shah, 38, offered himself as a hostage to help 33 youngsters escape from the rooftop of the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi, where the programme was being filmed.

His bravery is thought to have given the young victims precious seconds to flee and hide, although he was unable to convince the gunmen to agree to his offer and he and a number of children were shot dead.

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At Least 12 Dead In 6.8 Pakistan Earthquake

A powerful earthquake in Pakistan has killed at least 12 people just days after a tremor struck the same area killing hundreds.

The 6.8-magnitude quake hit the region of Balochistan in the south west of the country on Saturday morning sending people running into the streets in panic.

On Tuesday a 7.8-magnitude tremor rocked the same impoverished Awaran district killing 359 people, razing hundreds of mud and homemade brick homes to the ground and leaving tens of thousands with nowhere to live.

People still recovering from injuries sustained in the first disaster fled the hospital where they were being treated fearing the building would collapse.

The epicentre was 90 miles west of Khuzdar

The US Geological Survey measured the earthquake at 6.8 magnitude, however, Pakistan's Meteorological Department said it measured 7.2.

The department said the epicentre was located 90 miles west of the town of Khuzdar, a short distance from the epicentre of Tuesday's earthquake.

Head of the provincial disaster management agency Abdul Latif Kakar said: "At least 12 people have died and seven were wounded."

Officials fear the number of dead could significantly increase.

There have been reports that homes still standing after Tuesday's earthquake had collapsed after Saturday's tremor.

People visit an island formed by Tuesday's tremor

Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but least populated province. The rough terrain and the lack of decent roads have made it difficult for rescue staff.

The Pakistani Air Force has been making air drops of supplies and using helicopters to ferry injured people to medical care.

However, the aid efforts have been hampered by militants who want to overthrow central government and establish a hard-line Islamic state. The separatists have fired at the military aircraft helping with the aid and rescue mission.

Around 300,000 people were affected by Tuesday's earthquake which was so strong it is believed to have caused a small island to emerge just off the coastline in the Arabian Sea.

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Iran Leader Met With Protests After US Trip

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has been met with protesters chanting "Death to America" as he arrived from New York after a historic phone call with Barack Obama.

Shoes and eggs were thrown towards his motorcade as it left Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, as some 60 hardline Islamists also chanted "Death to Israel".

They were outnumbered by 200 to 300 supporters of the president who shouted: "Thank you Rouhani."

Mr Rouhani, who was returning from a UN General Assembly meeting in New York, stood up through his car's sunroof to acknowledge the crowds.

Mr Rouhani's supporters outnumbered his opponents as he arrived home

He did not appear to have been hit by any of the projectiles. Throwing shoes is considered deeply offensive in the Middle East.

Mr Rouhani's 15-minute telephone conversation with Mr Obama on Friday was the first contact between leaders of the two countries in more than three decades.

The exchange could reflect a major step in resolving global concerns over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

Mr Obama said he had a constructive conversation, adding: "While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution."

Surrounded by tight security, Mr Rouhani waved to crowds at Tehran airport

Both leaders will now direct their teams to work quickly to find an agreement after the first direct verbal communication between the nations' presidents since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Earlier, Mr Rouhani said he hoped talks with the US and other world powers over its nuclear programme will lead to results in "a short period of time".

He said Iran would present its plan for a resolution to the nuclear issue at discussions with the six countries scheduled for Geneva on October 15 and 16.

The six are the five permanent UN Security Council members - Britain, China, France, the United States and Russia - and Germany, known as P5+1.

Around 60 hardliners waved anti-US placards at Mehrabad Airport

Iran has insisted its nuclear programme is a peaceful attempt to generate electricity but America and its allies including Israel have long demanded a halt to Tehran's uranium enrichment, fearing it could secretly build nuclear warheads.

Mr Rouhani vowed his country would not build a nuclear bomb, adding his government would be transparent and had the backing of authorities at home to handle the nuclear issue.

In his latest comments, he said: "We say explicitly that we will be transparent; we say explicitly that we will not build a bomb. Through the P5+1 we want to provide even more assurances."

Earlier Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met US Secretary of State John Kerry along with representatives from the other P5+1 powers. That was followed by a brief bilateral meeting between Mr Zarif and Mr Kerry.

President Hassan Rouhani spoke to US President Barack Obama by phone

The two sides said the tone was positive but they remained cautious about resolving the long-running stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Mr Rouhani and Mr Zarif, both in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, have said they are eager to clinch an agreement quickly that could bring relief from what the president called "illegal" sanctions.

The sanctions have slashed Iran's vital oil exports by more than half, restricted its international bank transfers, devalued its currency and sent inflation surging.

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Lionel Messi In Court Over Tax Charges

Footballer Lionel Messi has arrived at a Spanish court to face tax evasion charges.

The Barcelona midfielder entered the court in Gava, Barcelona, the suburb where he lives, with his lawyers.

He made no comment to the waiting crowd of reporters and fans.

Jorge Messi, his father, had arrived to attend the court for questioning by a judge an hour earlier.

The two had been summoned to go before a judge on charges of evading tax on earnings from selling the player's image rights.

Jorge Messi arrives at court

It is alleged they should have paid the Spanish tax system €4.16m (£3.6m) on earnings between 2006 and 2009.

They have denied wrongdoing. Jorge Messi paid the tax authorities €5m in August  - the €4.16m claimed by the taxman plus interest.

It is said the payment he made should significantly reduce any sentence in the event they are found guilty.

Lionel Messi, 26, is widely considered to be the best footballer in the world and has been named Fifa World Player of the Year four times.

Messi junior has said he has been unaffected by the allegations hanging over him.

He said in July: "I am not worried, I'm always on the sidelines of all that, just like my dad.

"We have our lawyers and our advisers who handle these things. We trust in them and they will solve the issue."

The case began in June when a prosecutor accused the Messis of evading tax by funnelling income derived from the player's image rights through "purely instrumental entities", in tax havens such as Belize and Uruguay.

According to the prosecutor's report, Messi "obtained significant income" from image rights between 2006 and 2009 on which he "should have paid tax in his subsequent declarations" to the Spanish authorities and failed to do so.

The alleged offences are punishable by a jail sentence, but this is thought to be unlikely.

Between 2007 and 2009 he earned more than €10.17m (£8.8m) in image rights.

Forbes magazine lists him as the 10th highest paid sportsman in the world with an annual income of $21m (£13.5m) from endorsements alone.

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UN Probes More Syria 'Chemical Attack Sites'

The UN has said it is investigating seven potential chemical attacks in Syria, including three after the deadly strike on August 21.

Its inspectors plan to file a report by late October that will give more details of the attack in the capital, Damascus, which caused international outrage and nearly precipitated US air strikes.

The UN has already concluded the nerve agent sarin was used in last month's attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, which killed hundreds of people.

It was previously thought the UN probe would only look into three locations in Syria.

However, in addition to the August 21 attack on Damascus, the UN says it is also probing incidents in:

:: Bahhariyeh, east of Damascus, on August 22 

:: Jobar, also east of the capital, on August 24

:: Ashrafiat Sahnaya, southwest of Damascus, on August 25

 :: Sheikh Maqsoud, in the Aleppo district, in April

:: Saraqeb,  in the northern province of Idlib, in April

:: Khan al-Assal, in northern Syria, in March.

The US and its Western allies said the initial report showed the Assad regime was behind the August 21 attack.

But President Bashar al Assad's government has denied the accusation, blaming rebels instead.

The announcement comes as a car bomb killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more in Rankus, north of the capital.

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Kenya Mall Massacre: New Footage Of Survivors

Footage has emerged showing people being rescued by Kenyan forces in the aftermath of the terror attack at Nairobi's Westgate mall.

It comes as the country's Interior Minister announced that eight suspects were being held over the massacre, and three others had been released after being questioned.

The video was filmed by civilian security guards who went to the site to help.

They found a group of people hiding from the armed gang in a walk-in fridge in the building's supermarket.

"We are civilians," the guards can be heard saying. "Put your hands up, put your hands up."

The first of the group to emerge from the giant appliance then turns to the others and says, "police, police", to reassure them.

One person is heard saying, "it's ok", as all three men walk out the fridge to safety with their hands above their heads.

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Mumbai Building Collapse: Toddler Found Alive

A toddler has been found alive in the rubble of a collapsed multi-storey building in the Indian city of Mumbai.

Onlookers cheered as the girl - found 11 hours after the building crumbled to the ground - was pulled out through a small tunnel.

Rescuers continued to search for survivors, having already pulled out 27 others who were immediately rushed to hospital by waiting ambulances.

Rescue workers pull out a survivor from underneath the rubble

The residential building in India's financial capital, which is said to be home to up to 22 families, collapsed shortly after dawn, killing at least five people and leaving dozens more trapped.

Several diggers were immediately called into action to lift some of the larger slabs of concrete, allowing teams of rescuers to begin the task of searching for survivors, some of whom could be heard calling for help.

"Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped," said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force.

Relatives gathered around the flattened site waiting for news about their loved ones.

"My heart is thumping with fear. I'm just hoping," said housewife Shanta Makwana, whose daughter and grandchildren were trapped inside the building.

"My son is inside. I'm waiting for them to get him out," said 62-year-old Mithi Solakani.

Firefighters at the scene look through a gap in the collapsed structure

Neha Jagdale, a receptionist, rushed to the scene after hearing the news on TV.

"My uncle and aunt have been staying here for years," she said. "The police are not telling us anything. We are just waiting."

The building is owned by the city's civic administrative body, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

It said the building was for employees and their families who had been asked to leave earlier this year - but did not say why.

Spokesman Vijay Khabale-Patil said: "The building was around 30 years old. We had issued a notice to them in April to vacate the building, but they did not act."

Five other apartment blocks have collapsed in or around Mumbai in recent months, including one illegally constructed building in April that killed 72 people.

A few weeks later a section of a hospital collapsed, injuring at least eight people.

And in June, 10 people, including five children, died when a three-storey building crumbled.

Building collapses have become relatively common across India.

Massive demand for housing around India's fast-growing cities combined with corruption often result in builders using substandard materials or adding extra floors without permission.

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Kenya Survivor 'Smeared Herself In Blood'

A survivor of the Nairobi mall attacks has described how she smeared herself with a victim's blood to play dead and fool the terrorists.

Radio presenter Sneha Kothari Mashru said a teenage boy lying next to her died of his wounds as they hid from the gunmen at the Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital.

"I realised he was shot, because he was bleeding," she said.

"So I pulled out (his) phone slowly and I tried to switch it off, it was all full of blood, and I tried to switch off the phone so that it could stop ringing (in case it alerted the attackers).

"So I took a lot of his blood, (as) much (as) I could and I tried to put it on myself. I put it on my arm, a lot of the teenager's blood, and while I was trying to put it on my hand I just realised that he had stopped breathing at that time.

"So I put it on my arm, as much as I could, and I covered my face with my hair, because my hair was let loose even then, just to pretend that I'm dead or probably badly injured.

"I would still love to know who he is and everything, because his blood probably protected me from getting probably more injured or attacked."

Niall Saville and his wife Moon Hee Kang who died in the attack

Meanwhile, the family of a British man Niall Saville who was injured in the attack have paid tribute to his South Korean wife, Moon Hee Kang, who was killed.

"The Saville and Kang families are devastated and heartbroken by the sudden loss of Moon Hee.

"She was very close to the Saville family and brought so much joy to all of their lives. She and Niall had lived in numerous locations around the world together, but they always had time for both families," the statement said.

"Moon Hee was a bright, loving, kind and genuine person who will be greatly missed."

Terror group al Shabaab has claimed its militants carried out a "meticulous vetting process" to separate Muslims from non-Muslims before killing dozens of men, women and children in the mall.

Witnesses had described how the gunmen rounded up those inside centre before asking them questions about Islam.

In an email exchange with the Associated Press, the al Qaeda-affiliated terror group confirmed its fighters specifically targeted foreigners during the attack.

Security officials enter the mall to search for more evidence

"The Mujahideen carried out a meticulous vetting process at the mall and have taken every possible precaution to separate the Muslims from the Kuffar (disbelievers) before carrying out their attack," the group said.

It added: "Our targets have always been disbelievers, invaders and the apostate governments officials/troops who are allied with them."

The number killed in the attack is expected to rise from the current figure of 67, with speculation there could be additions to the six British dead.

Five terrorists were also killed in the four-day siege at the shopping centre, while 10 suspects remain in custody in relation to the incident.

A British woman reportedly linked to the attacks gained a South African passport using an assumed identity, and the document was cancelled in 2011, Kenya's home affairs minister Naledi Pandor said.

The passport was "fraudulently acquired" Ms Pandor told media, adding that the Kenyan government had not yet contacted the South African government regarding the Westgate attacks.

Former prime minister Tony Blair told Sky News that terrorists are a "cancer" who will only be defeated by better education.

Miraculous tales of survival have emerged since the attack

Speaking outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, the current envoy to the Middle East said Islamist ideology had created an enemy that was "insidious and venomous, but also difficult to beat".

"Unless we are educating people to a tolerant and respectful and open-minded approach to the world, then this cancer of these terrorist groups will continue," he said.

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud has warned that such attacks may become more frequent as al Shabaab tries to reassert its dwindling power base.

"Some people sometimes mix the issues that Shabaab want an Islamic state in Somalia - that's not true. Shabaab want a unified state all over the world," he told Channel 4 News.

"They do not believe in borders, they do not believe in sovereignty, so their theme is global, it's not even regional. They may do this act again and again."

On Wednesday the group threatened that if Kenyan troops remain in Somalia, they must "be prepared for an abundance of blood".

Experts from countries including the UK, the US and Israel are helping Kenyan authorities with the forensic investigation at the mall. Explosives experts and sniffer dogs are searching for booby traps in the wreckage.

Newly-released pictures show a gaping hole in the mall's roof and mounds of rubble.

The devastation was caused after soldiers fired rocket-propelled grenades and knocked out a support column.

A Kenyan government official said the soldiers fired to distract a sniper so that hostages could be evacuated.

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India: Militants Attack Police And Army Bases

By Neville Lazarus, Sky News Asia Producer

India's prime minister has condemned a "heinous terrorist attack" on a police station and nearby army base in which nine people were reportedly killed.

Militants dressed in army uniform stormed a police station in the Samba region of Jammu, where they shot dead six people and hijacked a truck.

They then drove to a nearby army base where they killed the truck driver and began shooting at soldiers inside the camp, two of whom are thought to have died.

The attack triggered calls for planned talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawz Sharif to be cancelled.

However, Mr Singh suggested the meeting would go ahead as planned.

"This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of the peace," he said.

The attack happened in India's northwestern Jammu district

"We are firmly resolved to combat and defeat the terrorist menace that continues to receive encouragement and reinforcement from across the border.

"Such attacks will not deter us and will not succeed in derailing our efforts to find a resolution to all problems through a process of dialogue."

Mr Singh had been under pressure not to agree to talks while attacks near the India-Pakistan border continue.

India has accused Pakistan of 120 ceasefire violations since the start of the year.

Pakistan denies arming or training militants but says it offers moral support to Kashmir's Muslim population, which it claims faces human rights abuses at the hands of Indian forces.

There has been no meaningful dialogue between India and Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks in 2008 in which 166 people were killed.

The Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the attack on the landmark Taj Mahal Hotel and other targets.

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Pakistan: Island Rises From The Sea After Quake

Pakistani residents in Gwadar have reacted with shock and awe after a new island arose from the sea following Tuesday's earthquake that killed over 300 people.

The land mass, 5km off the coast, is around the length of a football field and the width of a tennis court, according to geologists.

Scientists who visited the island on Wednesday to collect samples said the rocks were emitting methane gas.

A team of Frontier Corp solders also went to the island and erected a Pakistani flag.

Dead fish were reportedly found floating in the water nearby, and people have been warned to stay away; but many villagers made the voyage regardless and brought back stones as souvenirs. 

A map showing the epicentre of the earthquake

Muhammed Arshad, a hydrographer with the navy, said similar islands appeared after earthquakes of 1999 and 2010, but disappeared in the rainy season.

The rock formations are brought to the surface by gases locked beneath the seabed, which heat and expand during seismic activity.

The large earthquake struck a remote mountainous part of Pakistan on Tuesday, around 60 miles (100km) southwest of the city of Khuzdar in Balochistan province.

The quake centred on the Awaran district – one of the poorest areas in the country – and flattened hundreds of homes.

Children walk through the rubble of a mudhouse after the quake

Officials have said 327 people were killed but reports say the figure could be a lot higher.

The Baluchistan provincial government said at least 552 people were injured in the quake.

The tremort was felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of miles to the east, where buildings shook.

In 2005, a 7.6 magnitude quake in Kashmir, in north-eastern Pakistan, killed at least 73,000 people and left several million homeless in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the country.

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Costa Concordia: Remains Found Near Liner

Divers have found human remains near the shipwrecked cruise liner which ran aground off the Italian coast in January 2012.

Authorities say DNA tests will tell whether the remains are those of two victims whose bodies were never found.

The search for the last of the 32 dead resumed after the capsized cruise liner was hauled upright last week in a 19-hour salvage operation 20 months after the ship crashed into a reef off Giglio Island on January 13, 2012.

The remains were "absolutely consistent" with the two missing people, an Indian man and an Italian woman, said Franco Gabrielli, the head of the government agency overseeing the vessel's salvage.

Relatives of the two victims - a female Italian passenger and a male Indian waiter - have been notified, Mr Gabrielli said.

Recovering the submerged bodies after 20 months under the weight of the 114,500 tonne vessel was "almost a miracle," he added.

The ship, which had been lying on its side in shallow water ever since capsizing, is due to be towed away from the Mediterranean holiday island, probably by next spring, and eventually broken up for scrap.

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Kenya: Gunman 'Could Still Be Hiding In Mall'

There are fears that one of the gunmen who launched a terror attack on a Kenyan shopping mall could still be hiding inside.

Sky's chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay said: "There is a distinct possibility that somebody could have survived, one of the gunmen could be in there.

"There have been sources saying that is something under consideration whenever the clearance operation moves further into the building."

Kenya has begun three days of mourning for the victims of the Nairobi attack, as authorities look to retrieve the bodies of victims still trapped inside.

Smoke rises from the Westgate mall in Nairobi

At least 67 people have been confirmed dead in the attack, including 61 civilians and six security officials.

Kenyan authorities say the number of dead may rise further, as bodies are feared to be trapped beneath rubble in the mall after three levels collapsed.

Six Britons - including an eight-year-old girl - are among the dead, and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned there may be further British victims.

A Western embassy official said the number of additional dead could reach as high as 100. Morgue workers are preparing to receive further victims.

People queue up to give blood

About 175 people were also wounded when al Shabaab militants stormed the Nairobi mall on Saturday afternoon.

More video shows the rescue of a woman and two children from the mall by a police officer.

Meanwhile a photo taken by Sky's Alex Crawford showed people lining up to give blood.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta announced in a televised address that troops had "shamed and defeated" the militants following a four-day siege.

Kenyan troops stormed the shopping complex

"Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed. These cowards will meet justice as will their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are," Mr Kenyatta said.

Some 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack, and a further five died during the siege at the complex.

A British man arrested at Nairobi airport had no involvement in the attack, it has been confirmed.

"Now it is for the forensic and criminal experts," said police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi.

Explosives experts are searching for booby traps in the wreckage.

Teams of sniffer dogs have been taken into the building to check for explosives and to find bodies.

The attackers marched into the four-storey, part Israeli-owned mall at midday on Saturday, shooting dead shoppers with machine guns and tossing grenades.

Al Shabaab has claimed it carried out the attack in retaliation for Kenya's military intervention in Somalia.

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Kenya Siege Survivors Tell Of Brush With Death

Survivors of the Nairobi shopping centre terrorist attack have spoken of their attempts to hide from the gunmen as they fired indiscriminately at shoppers.

The attack at the Westgate Shopping Mall, which began on Saturday, has so far killed at least 67 people.

Eleven suspects are in custody and five of the attackers - thought to be members of Somalia's al Shabaab group - have been killed, but it is still unclear whether the four-day siege has been ended.

Ben Mulwa had just got out of his car after arriving at the mall for lunch with a friend.

He described running from his vehicle into the mall to escape the shooting when he saw four men armed with automatic weapons.

"There was a security guard who came to seek safety right next to where I was," he told Sky News after returning to hospital.

"He was the first to be shot dead because I remember they shot him right through the head.

"Before I could come to terms with that, that's when I saw the second gunman pointing a gun in my direction. All I remember is I heard a very loud bang.

"I think I almost passed out for a couple of seconds. A bullet grazed over my forehead - how he was able to miss me - and he was only three or four metres away from me - is a miracle somehow."

Kenyan security forces outside the Westgate mall

Mr Mulwa was also hit in the knee, and hid in a flowerbed before he was rescued.

Syed Ibrahim was shot by the gunmen and pleaded for his life, before the terrorists let him go.

He said: "I just told them to leave me alone, I've been injured, so they let me go and said we won't do anything to you because you have been shot already.

"The memory, you can't forget, you usually see it on TV or in movies. You wouldn't expect to see it in reality.

"It's not yet over, let's pray for the best."

Meanwhile, a five-year-old bravely confronted one of the gunman in the mall, telling him: "You're a very bad man, let us leave."

The Sun newspaper reported the little boy stood up to one of the terrorists after he shot his mother Amber in the leg.

The gunman then gave the boy and his six-year-old sister Mars bars, before letting them escape from the mall.

The children's father, Dan Prior, said: "I am very relieved that my family have survived and my thoughts go out to those families that are not as fortunate as my own. 

"My children are traumatised and my wife is very unwell as a result of this senseless atrocity."

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Peru Drugs Pair Plead Guilty To Trafficking

Two women accused of trying to smuggle £1.5m worth of cocaine out of Peru have pleaded guilty.

Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum, both 20, were stopped with 11kg (24lb) of cocaine hidden in food packets in their luggage while trying to board a flight to Spain on August 6.

Reid, from Glasgow, and McCollum, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, originally claimed they were forced to carry the drugs by an armed gang which threatened them and their family members.

Their U-turn means they will not have to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Instead, it is likely they will be sentenced to six years and eight months in jail at a hearing which could take place as early as next week.

The two women admitted their guilt at a private hearing in a makeshift courtroom at a men's jail in Lima.

They were heard separately for half an hour each from 11am local time - 5pm in the UK - and asked their names and ages before being given the opportunity to speak.

The pair were arrested at Lima's airport on August 6

The women's lawyer, Meyer Fishman, declined to comment, but a Callao court spokesman in charge of the investigation confirmed the guilty pleas.

"Both women have pleaded guilty to drugs trafficking," said the spokesman.

"It means they automatically benefit from a sixth off the minimum jail sentence of eight years and will be sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.

"Sentencing has not taken place yet and a new hearing where the women will be sentenced has now got to be arranged.

"But it's likely that will take place in around a week's time."

The cocaine was found hidden in food packets in the women's luggage

Reid and McCollum, who had both been working in Ibiza, were facing up to 15 years in prison if they had been found guilty in a trial.

Reid's parents insisted last week they still believed their daughter had been forced to carry the drugs, but a guilty plea was the best course of action to get her back to the UK.

Prosecutors previously indicated that the women could return home to serve their sentences if they pleaded guilty.

Reid was the first to consider changing her plea, maintaining she carried the drugs under duress and telling the Daily Mail: "Pleading guilty is going to enable me to get back to my family in Scotland sooner rather than later.

Melissa Reid said she did not want to be in jail until the age of 35

"I do not want to be in jail until 35 - I can't get back those years."

McCollum confirmed at the weekend that she too had changed her mind about continuing to protest her innocence.

"I understand that the judicial process will be simpler if we both plead guilty," said the 20-year-old.

"We are hoping we will not have to wait too long before we are sentenced and pleading guilty will speed things up."

The pair are currently being held at the notorious Virgen de Fatima prison in the Peruvian capital Lima.

Peruvian police and prosecutors said from the start they did not believe the women had been forced to smuggle the drugs.

Chief prosecutor Juan Mendoza Abarca claimed their stories were "incredible" and that they had been coached in what to say.

He added: "They staged this whole thing from the beginning because they knew it was possible they would get caught and if they did get caught they had the excuses really well planned.

"It's very obvious they were trained in what to say if they were caught. They were prepared in every sense."

A total of 248 "drug mules" were arrested at Lima's Jorge Chavez international airport in 2012, with nearly 1,600kg of illegal drugs confiscated.

The UN says Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's largest grower of coca, the raw material of cocaine.

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Senator's Marathon Speech To Block Obamacare

Republican Ted Cruz has been speaking on the floor of the US Senate for 18 hours so far in an attempt to block funding for President Barack Obama's healthcare bill.

While not technically a filibuster, as he has given way for "questions" - allowing other Republicans to speak as well - he is yet to relinquish control of the floor.

One of the questions is understood to have lasted 45 minutes.

The potential presidential contender from Texas has vowed to speak in the Senate for as long as he can.

"I rise today in opposition to Obamacare," he said, as he took to the floor of a largely empty chamber at 2.41 local time (19.41 EST).

At one point he read out Dr Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, quoted actor Ashton Kutcher as well as lines from a TV show called Duck Dynasty.

The Senator speaking at a town hall meeting in Dallas, Texas, last month

He also brought up children's book, Little Engine That Could, during his argument that the Democratic-controlled Senate is a place where legislation like the Republican bid to defund Obamacare or shut down the government, goes to die.

"That little engine can't," he said, apparently aware of the futility of his efforts.

Last week, the Republican majority in the House Of Representatives approved legislation that would defund the healthcare law as part of a bill to keep the government running past Sept 30.

However, the Democrats have the majority in the upper chamber, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to easily get the 51 votes needed to strip the healthcare provision from the bill.

Senator Cruz's speech is a bid to stop the bill from advancing to that stage, with a vote due at lunchtime in Washington.

He is not the first US politician to recently give a marathon speech in an attempt to impact legislation.

Rand Paul of Kentucky spoke non-stop for almost 13 hours earlier this year to block the appointment of John Brennan - President Obama's pick for CIA director.

Wendy Davis filibustered in the Texas State Senate for 11 hours to block an abortion bill in June.

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Earthquake Measuring 7.8 Hits Rural Pakistan

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 has hit a remote area of south western Pakistan.

The strong quake struck a remote mountainous part of the country at 4.29pm local time (12.29BST) around 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the city of Khuzdar in Balochistan province, at a depth of 15 kilometres.

It was felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi, hundreds of miles to the east, where buildings shook.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but many of the buildings in that part of the country are made of weak materials and there were fears a death toll could grow.

The United States Geological Survey issued a red alert for the quake, warning that heavy casualties were likely, based on past data.

Tremors were felt across the province as well as in the sprawling port city of Karachi, residents said. People in Ahmedabad in India, hundreds of miles from the eipcentre, ran out of buildings and into the street.

A senior Pakistani meteorologist, Muhammad Riaz, told Dunya TV station it was a "major" earthquake and "heavy destruction" was likely.

Mumtaz Baluch, senior local administration official in Awaran district, 350 kilometres southwest of Quetta, told AFP: "There are reports of houses being collapsed in the district due to earthquake."

"We also have initial information about injuries to people as a result of the collapse of houses but there are no reports of any deaths."

"We have dispatched our teams to the affected area to ascertain the losses."

People working in offices Karachi rushed out of their building and sat on the footpaths along the roads or stood away from the buildings.

Noor Jabeen, a 28-year woman working for an insurance company said: "My work table jerked a bit and again and I impulsively rushed outside."

"Whenever I feel jolts it reminds me of the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir," said Amjad Ali, 45, IT official standing on the road said.

A 7.6 magnitude quake in 2005 centred in Kashmir, killed at least 73,000 people and left several million homeless in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Pakistan.

The epicentre is in a remote, thinly populated mountainous area of Balochistan populated mainly by subsistence farmers.

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US 'Concerned' Over Al Shabaab Recruiters

The White House has said it is concerned about attempts by Somalia's al Shabaab to recruit in the US, but has no confirmation that any American citizens were involved in the deadly siege at a shopping mall in Kenya.

The Somali militant group with ties to al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the three-day stand-off in Nairobi in which at least 62 people have died.

Kenya Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said "two or three Americans" were involved in the attack, along with one British woman.

Ms Mohamed said the Americans were 18 or 19 years old, of Somali and Arab origin, and lived "in Minnesota and one other place".

"That just goes to underline the global nature of the war that we're fighting," she said.

Her comments have been dismissed by an al Shabaab spokesman who said: "Those who describe the attackers as Americans and British are people who do not know what is going on."

An armoured military vehicle leaves the shopping centre in Nairobi

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the department had "no definitive evidence of the nationalities or identities of the perpetrators at this time".

White House deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes said US officials had seen "reports coming out of al Shabaab that indicate information along those lines".

"We do monitor very carefully and have for some time been concerned about efforts by al Shabaab to recruit Americans or US persons to come to Somalia.

"So this is an issue that has been tracked very closely by the US government and it's one that we'll be looking into in the days ahead."

US Representative from New York, Pete King, said al Shabaab has recruited up to 50 people from Somali-American communities in the US.

Mr King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in an ABC interview on Sunday that between 15 and 20 Somali-Americans remain active in the group.

He said the concern is that some may return and "use their abilities on the US".

Smoke billows from a section of the shopping centre

Meanwhile, as Kenya security forces attempted to bring the deadly three-day siege to a conclusion, President Barack Obama said it was a "terrible outrage" and offered to provide law enforcement support to Kenya.

"I want to express personally my condolences not only to (Kenya's) President Kenyatta, who lost some family members in the attack, but to the Kenyan people," he said.

"We stand with them against this terrible outrage that's occurred."

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Ohio's Somali-American community that the Islamist group presents a threat not just to Africa.

"Today there are clear evidences that Shabaab is not a threat to Somalia and Somali people only," he said in a speech at Ohio State University.

"They are a threat to the continent of Africa, and the world at large."

Mr Mohamud called on people from Somalia who are living in Ohio to consider coming home to help rebuilding efforts.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said al Shabaab is a global threat

Central Ohio has the second-largest number of Somalis in the US after the Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota, area.

Members of Minnesota's Somali community have condemned the attack.

Several groups called a news conference in solidarity with the victims and to warn about the dangers of extremism.

One Somali woman in Minnesota, Hodan Hassan, said her 17-year-old and 16-year-old nieces were injured in the attacks.

She said the older one is in critical condition with severe leg injuries, while the other was not as seriously hurt. They are Canadian citizens who moved to Nairobi three years ago.

Ms Hassan said it would be sad if Somali-Americans were responsible but she doubts it is true.

Meanwhile, three alleged members of al Shabaab appeared in New York accused of being part of an "elite suicide unit".

The three had links to al Qaeda operatives in East Africa "who sought to carry out attacks against the United States and Western interests in that region", prosecutors wrote in a letter filed on September 18.

They were captured in Africa allegedly trying to reach Yemen, where they were planning to meet up with al Qaeda operatives.

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Japan 'Slow To Tackle Fukushima Nuclear Leak'

Leaks of contaminated water at the crippled nuclear plant have worsened because Japan has acted too slowly, a former US nuclear regulatory chief claims.

US and Japanese officials knew that leaks would occur when massive amounts of water were used to cool molten reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after a major tsunami hit in March 2011, said Gregory Jaczko, adding that he was surprised how long it took Japan to start tackling the problem.

"It's been known for a long time that this would be an issue," he told a news conference in Tokyo.

"My biggest surprise is to some extent how it's been allowed to deteriorate, a little bit, and how it's almost become a surprise again that there are contamination problems, that there is leakage out into the sea."

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (in red hat) last week at the plant

Mr Jaczko said that when the plant was in critical condition, with three reactor cores melted and in dire need of cooling water, Japanese and US officials had disputed how much water should be put in because of the imminent leaks of radiation contaminated water and measures needed to contain that problem.

The Japanese government, he said, was concerned that flooding those reactor vessels and reactor buildings with cooling water "would lead to greater leakage of ground water," whereas the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission emphasised the need to keep reactors cool and under control to minimise the airborne contamination.

But the "focus was lost" on the need to keep addressing the radioactive water problem, apparently delaying action on mitigating the problem, he said.

Japanese officials confirmed for first time in July that contaminated ground water had begun leaking into the Pacific soon after the accident.

Gregory Jaczko left his post last year

Leaders of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which was in power during the crisis, acknowledged last week that a plan to build a seawall to block contaminated water leaks into the sea has been put off for nearly two years after plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. allegedly refused to agree to the plan because of costs.

The public is increasingly worried about the recent string of underground water leaks into the ocean and from storage tanks holding contaminated water used to cool the reactors.

The government is now funding the development of more advanced water treatment equipment and paying for a costly ice wall to surround the reactor and turbine buildings and prevent them from contaminating outside ground water.

Mr Jaczko, who was chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the time of the Fukushima accident, was in Tokyo at the invitation of a Japanese anti-nuclear citizens' group.

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Kenya Siege: Heavy Gunfire Heard Inside Mall

Heavy bursts of gunfire have been heard from inside a Nairobi shopping centre as Kenyan soldiers fight with terrorists to rescue hostages.

At least 10 hostages remain inside the mall on the fourth day of the siege in which 62 people have been killed, including six Britons - among them an eight-year-old girl.

Medics who have been inside the complex warned that the numbers of dead are significantly greater than have been confirmed, and the city morgue is preparing for the arrival of a large number of bodies.

In a new Twitter feed claiming to be run by Somalia's al Qaeda-linked rebel group, al Shabaab, a post said that "the mujahideen are still holding their ground".

It warned "there are countless number of dead bodies still scattered inside the mall" and said it was "far greater than how the Kenyans perceive it".

Victims: Ross Langdon, Eliv Yavus and eight-year-old Jenah Bawa

Another post said that they were still holding hostages who were "still alive looking quite disconcerted but, nevertheless, alive".

In an audio broadcast on a pro-militant website, the al Shebaab spokesman Ali Mohamoud Rage, threatened that unless Kenya pulled its troops out of Somalia it could expect further terror attacks.

The Kenyan police responded with a Twitter message in which it told people to ignore enemy propaganda and said: "Troops now in mop up operations in the building. More to follow. Be calm."

They also said that they had been defusing bombs set up by the militants inside the mall, as part of the buildings roof has now collapsed.

Kenyan forces at the shopping centre early on Tuesday

The army has confirmed that three soldiers have been killed in the fighting.

The Kenyan government insisted early on Tuesday that it was "in control" of the mall and that all hostages trapped by the attackers had been evacuated.

Government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said: "Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. Obviously it's a very, very big building.

Bodies arrive at the city morgue

"We think that everyone, the hostages, have been evacuated but we don't want to take any chances. The special forces are doing their job and yes, I think we are near the end."

Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay said: "The government has said it's all over … but that seems to conflict with what we are hearing both from the military sources here - one of them told me that there were at least maybe two gunmen still holed up - and indeed al Shabaab itself.

"They have been in communication with their people inside and they say are still there and they have hostages still.

"It's very confused, there is an element of propaganda perhaps from both sides about what is happening inside."

He said that he had spoken to a medic who had been inside the building and they had said the numbers of dead were "huge" and warned that the official figures would rise.

The developments came as Kenya's Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said that a British woman and two or three Americans were among those who had attacked the centre.

She said the British woman had "done this very many times before".

Her comments have led to increasing speculation that she could be the 29-year-old widow of the 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, Samantha Lewthwaite.

Smoke is seen rising from the shopping centre

However, a leading terrorism expert has said her involvement is unlikely and al Shabaab has denied the claim.

A string of Twitter accounts apparently run by al Shabaab have been shut down since the attack began.

The extremists also appeared to verify a picture that has been circulating on the internet claiming to be taken from the shopping centre CCTV and showing the gunmen.

The two figures in the picture are seen in black headscarves, ambling past a children's sweet stall in the mall.

According to Sky News sources, the British military is now giving assistance to Kenyan forces at the mall and has offered further assistance.

Police and volunteers react after hearing gunshots

On Monday, the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, said: "As the Prime Minister made clear, we have said we will provide them with any assistance which they request. We haven't yet been asked to provide any assistance beyond broad background advice."

Barack Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, said the United States stood with Kenyans against "this terrible outrage".

The atrocity is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bomb attack on the US embassy in 1998 that killed more than 200 people.

:: The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the siege.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000.

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Kenya Stand-Off: Major Explosion And Gunfire

Four huge explosions have been heard followed by a barrage of gunfire at the Westgate shopping complex in Nairobi where 69 people, including four Britons, have died in a raid by Islamic militants.

Black smoke is pouring from the centre as Kenyan troops lay siege to the four-storey complex while military and police helicopters circle above.

A security official told reporters at the scene: "It is us who caused the explosion, we are trying to get in through the roof."

However, a Kenyan minister said the smoke had been caused by the al Shabaab militants setting fire to mattresses as a decoy.

Sky's Stuart Ramsay said he had been told some of the terrorists had blown themselves up while others has been "taken out" by special forces.

He added: "Things have heated up a lot. This appears to be the op trying to get to those hostages but it's going to be very difficult and very dangerous."

Aerial view of the smoke rising from the shopping centre

Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said he expected security forces to end the siege soon. Two of the attackers had been killed in the assault and several injured, and there was no way out for the others.

"We think the operation will come to an end soon," he told a press conference. "We are in control of all the floors, the terrorists are running and hiding in some stores ... there is no room for escape."

Kenya's police chief David Kimaiyo admitted some hostages had still not been rescued, but insisted: "We're increasingly gaining advantage of the attackers."

Defence chief General Julius Karangi said the militants were "a multinational collection from all over the world."

One of the Britons killed in the raid, which began on Saturday, has been named as Ross Langdon, who had dual Australian nationality.

Mr Langdon and Eliv Yavus. Pic: Windgrove: Life on the Edge blog

The 33-year-old architect died alongside his Dutch wife Eliv Yavus who was pregnant and due to give birth in two weeks.

Colleagues of Mr Langdon told Sky News: "We were shocked at the news. Ross was the kind of guy who restored your faith in humanity - what a senseless waste."

The Kenyan Defence Force said earlier on its Twitter feed it was making every effort to bring the situation "to a speedy conclusion".

It said it had secured most of the shopping mall, and many of the hostages had been rescued.

Officials said up to 15 attackers were still been inside the building. They have been using the hostages as human shields and have threatened to kill them.

Kenyan troops take cover as they await developments

Al Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage warned the hostages would "bear the brunt of any force directed against the mujahedeen".

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said there have been "numerous offers of assistance from friendly countries" to end the stand-off, but that for now it remains a Kenyan operation.

However, a Kenyan security source confirmed that Israeli agents were "rescuing the hostages and the injured". The Westgate shopping complex is part Israeli-owned.

Britain's SAS is also reportedly helping out in an advisory role, along with US agents.

The Kenyan Red Cross says 69 people have been killed, at least 63 remain missing and around 200 have been injured. Five of these are said to be from the US.

Troops make their way to the shopping mall

Police have conceded the number of dead could be "much, much higher", after reports emerged that there are multiple fatalities still inside the centre.

The Foreign Office, which confirmed four Britons were among those killed, warned that number was likely to rise.

Also killed were two Canadians, two French citizens, two Indian citizens, a South Korean, a South African, a Dutch woman and the former UN envoy Kofi Awoonor.

Prime Minister David Cameron is cutting short a visit to Balmoral to chair a meeting of the emergency response committee Cobra in London later today. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond chaired a Cobra meeting this morning.

Mr Cameron has described the attack on the shopping complex as "despicable" and an act of "appalling brutality".

Samantha Lewthwaite: Is she involved?

Meanwhile, some reports are linking a female British terror suspect nicknamed the "White Widow" to the plot, although the Foreign Office has denied it is investigating these claims and the Kenyan authorities say all the attackers are male.

Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, is wanted by Kenyan police over links to a suspected terrorist cell

In March 2012 it was reported that Lewthwaite, 29, who is originally from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, had fled across the border from Kenya to Somalia.

Ramsay said: "We know that she'd been in the area. She has been linked to a number of attack in east Africa and they have been trying to capture her.

"Interestingly she has been used in the past with planning and propaganda, not actual assaults, although there is some evidence she has been linked to at least one.

Sky's Stuart Ramsay reporting on the siege

"It is difficult to know whether or not it is her. The government have said there have been reports of more than one woman involved.

"Al Shabaab is thought to consist of foreign nationals as well as people from Somalia. I've heard reports of one Briton being involved and someone from Canada as well."

Mr Kenyatta said one of his nephews and his nephew's fiancee were among the people confirmed killed.

"They shall not get away with their despicable and beastly acts," the president said in an emotional speech to the nation. "We will punish the masterminds swiftly and indeed very painfully."

The attack is the worst in Nairobi since an al Qaeda bomb attack on the US embassy in 1998 that killed more than 200 people.

Judges at the International Criminal Court have adjourned the trial of Kenyan vice president William Ruto for a week to allow him to return home and help deal with the crisis.

The Kenyan Red Cross has set up a webpage for anyone worried about friends or relatives who might be caught up in the siege.

:: A helpline has been set up for people in the UK who are concerned about relatives in Kenya: 020 7008 000. 

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Pakistan Protests At Deadly Church Bombings

Angry Christians have been demonstrating across Pakistan in protest at Sunday's church bombings as the number of dead climbed overnight to 81.

In the country's deadliest attack against the minority faith, a pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up amid hundreds of worshippers outside an historic church in Peshawar, north-western Pakistan.

Christian protesters have blocked roads around the country in protest at the attack.

Christian men in Quetta shout anti-government slogans after the bomb attack

On one of the main roads coming into the capital, Islamabad, demonstrators burned brush and tyres and demanded government protection for the members of the Christian minority.

"We are a peaceful nation. We are loyal citizens of Pakistan," said Simon Jalal, a priest. "We want our rights, we want security. Security should be provided to our churches to stop more incidents like yesterday's."

Members of the Christian community in Lahore hold placards and candles

The attack on the All Saints Church in the city of Peshawar, which also wounded more than 140 people, occurred as worshippers were leaving.

A wing of the Pakistani Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying they would continue to target non-Muslims until the US stops drone attacks in the remote tribal region of Pakistan.

The bombings also raised new questions about the Pakistani government's push to strike a peace deal with the militants to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people.

Within hours of the attack, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's toughened his stance, but fell short of calling for outright military action against insurgents holed up in tribal areas on the Afghan border - an option supported by Pakistan's army.

Christians are a minority in Pakistan, where roughly 96% of the country's 180 million people is Muslim. The rest is made up of other religions, including Christianity.

Christians have often been attacked by Sunni Muslim militants, who view them as enemies of Islam because of their faith.

Christians are also in a precarious position in Pakistan.

Protests have been held across Pakistan

While many Pakistanis condemned the Sunday bombings, Christians have often faced discrimination across the country.

They find it difficult to get access to education or better jobs and are known for having to contend with menial labour such as rubbish collecting or street cleaning.

It comes as police confirmed a bomb has also exploded near a patrol in southwest Baluchistan province, killing four people, including three officers.

No one has said they carried out the attack. Baluchistan is home to both Islamic militants and nationalists who have been fighting an insurgency against the government for decades for a greater share of the province's natural resources.

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