Dispatches – A Pakistani court on Tuesday threw out a petition seeking to block the extradition of the Afghan Taliban's No. 2 leader and other senior commanders detained in Pakistan, a lawyer said.

U.S. ally Pakistan captured at least four Afghan Taliban leaders, including top military strategist Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, early this year. The Afghan government has asked Islamabad to hand them over.
But Khalid Khawaja, a former Pakistani intelligence officer turned campaigner for Islamist causes, petitioned the Lahore High Court seeking to block their extraditions, which it did in February, pending its final decision on the petition.
Suspected militants kidnapped Khawaja, a journalist and another former colleague from the country's main Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency in Pakistan's restive northwest in March on suspicions of spying. The kidnappers also demanded the release of captured Afghan Taliban leaders in exchange for them.
Khawaja was found dead in North Waziristan, a major sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban, late last month. There has been no word on the fate of two other kidnapped men since.
Pakistan has only confirmed the arrest of Baradar but Afghan officials say at least three other Taliban leaders, Abdul Salam, Mir Mohammad and Abdul Kabir, are in Pakistan's custody.
Missile barrage kills 14 in Pakistan tribal area
Up to 18 American missiles slammed into a Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan close to the Afghan border Tuesday, killing 14 alleged insurgents in the third such strike since a failed car bombing in New York drew fresh attention to the region, officials said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign minister said the nation's ties with the U.S. have not suffered as a result of the bombing plot, which Washington has linked to militants with bases in the lawless border regions.
The number of missiles fired into North Waziristan was unusually high, reflecting multiple targets.