San Francisco - Twitter, which is preparing for its initial public offering, said on Wednesday it will help users receive special alerts from government agencies and aid agencies during emergencies.

Users who sign up will receive smartphone notifications via the Twitter app as well as SMS text messages - assuming they agree to handover their cell phone numbers - from any of several dozen agencies who have signed on to the program.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Tokyo's Disaster Prevention service and the World Health Organization are among those participating.

The alerts program starts a year after Twitter showcased its potential as a lifeline during Hurricane Sandy, when stranded residents on the eastern US seaboard reported the storm's progress and sought help on the mobile network.

A similar lifeline service played a part in the rescue efforts in Japan following the devastating 2011 tsunami, Twitter said. The program is initially available in the United States, Japan and Korea and will be expanded to other countries.

Craig Fugate, the FEMA administrator, said the service was at the cutting edge of disaster management in the age of smartphones.

"Today we have a two-way street — residents are informed about hazards in real time and emergency managers receive immediate feedback on the consequences of a disaster," Fugate said in a statement.

The program reflects the evolution of Twitter from its earliest days, when it gained a reputation as a hangout for geeks to share the minute details of their most recent meal or who they encountered at the South by Southwest Festival.

But the crowd-sourced information of today's Twitter has also proved problematic.

Even as the New York City Fire Department used Twitter to communicate with residents during Hurricane Sandy, there were pranksters who spread misinformation on the service, including a rumor that the New York Stock Exchange was submerged underwater.

And in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, the name of a missing Brown University student went viral on Twitter after many users, including journalists, mistakenly identified him as a suspect.

Twitter, for its part, has maintained a strictly hands-off attitude toward monitoring its content and denied responsibility for ensuring its accuracy.

Earlier this month, Twitter filed with regulators for an initial public offering. Reuters reported last week that Twitter was in talks looking to add additional banks to its underwriting syndicate.

NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh branded Thursday's attack by militants on an Indian police station and army camp in disputed Kashmir as “barbaric” but - without mentioning Pakistan - said it would not derail efforts to pursue peace through dialogue.

“This is one more in a series of provocations and barbaric actions by the enemies of peace,” Manmohan Singh said in a statement. “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.”

A group of militants dressed in Indian army uniforms attacked an Indian police station located near the main city of Srinagar before attacking an army camp and killing eight people, Indian officials said.

The attack triggered calls in New Delhi for talks between the rival nations' leaders at the weekend to be called.

Just a day before the attack, Singh said he would meet Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly for highly anticipated talks.

The Pakistani Prime Minister had also earlier expressed his wish to meet his Indian counterpart at the UN General Assembly to resume peace efforts between the two South Asian countries.

The talks are expected to discuss rising violence in the Kashmir region and to promote cordial relations between the neighbouring countries.

While Pakistani officials have not yet outlined the agenda for the Sharif-Singh meeting, Indian officials have said the issue of terrorism would figure prominently in the talks.

Pakistani officials, however, underlined Mr Sharif’s commitment to improving ties with India, pointing out that despite a downturn in ties after clashes at the Line of Control (LoC), the prime minister had been pushing for a meeting with Singh in New York.

KABUL: An Afghan soldier opened fire Thursday on his Nato trainers, killing one and wounding several others in the country’s east, officials said.

Attacks in which Afghan forces turn their guns on their international partners have killed scores of US-led troops, breeding mistrust and undermining efforts to train local forces before Nato combat troops withdraw next year.

The latest shooting was at a military training facility and base in the eastern province of Paktia, known to be one of the hotbeds of the Taliban insurgency, an Afghan official said.

The soldier attached to Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was inside the base when attacked, Rohullah Samoon, the local administration spokesman, told AFP from the provincial capital Gadez.

ISAF said the attacker, described as “wearing Afghan national security forces uniform”, was killed in return fire from other troops on the ground.

ISAF did not provide further details including the exact location of the incident or the nationality of the victim.

Attacks of this nature, locally known as “insider” or “green on blue” are common in Afghanistan where Afghan troops, some of them reportedly affiliated to insurgent groups, turn on Nato and US allies.

An Afghan soldier shot dead three US soldiers during a training exercise in Paktia last Saturday.

BAGHDAD: A bomb exploded in a crowded market in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least seven people and wounding 15, officials said.

The blast in the Dura area of south Baghdad marks the latest in a spate of attacks at markets, which are frequently targeted by militants seeking to cause maximum casualties.

Iraq is witnessing the worst violence since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict.

There are persistent fears that Iraq will return to the all-out Sunni-Shia sectarian violence that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people.

With the latest violence, more than 680 people have been killed this month and over 4,500 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.

Diplomats and analysts say the Shia-led government's failure to address the grievances of the Sunni Arab minority, who complain of political exclusion and abuses at the hands of the security forces, has driven the spike in violence this year.

Sectarian tensions created by the civil war in neighbouring Syria have also fuelled the violence rocking Iraq.

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the second half to give Real Madrid a hard-fought 2-1 away win at Elche in the Spanish league Wednesday.

In a lackluster, strategic match, Elche defender Eduardo Albacar struck a free kick that David Lomban back-headed toward goal, forcing an athletic save from goalkeeper Diego Lopez in the 10th minute.

Ronaldo scored from a direct free kick in the 50th minute which bounced just in front of goalkeeper Manuel Herrera, who got a touch but was unable to deflect the ball.

''It was a very difficult match in which our opponents played very well and caused us some problems, and there was that goal near the end that we shouldn't have conceded,'' said Lopez.

Ghanaian striker Richmond Boakye who is on loan to Elche from Juventus, headed a perfectly-aimed shot into goal from an Albacar cross in injury time.

Madrid was then awarded a much-argued penalty one minute later as defender Pepe wrestled with Elche midfielder Carlos Sanchez in the penalty area during a free kick.

Ronaldo stepped up to convert the shot, six minutes into injury time.

''We have to be realists, but they have scored two goals against us from two actions that from my point of view should not have gone against us,'' said Albacar. ''I end up with the sensation that they have robbed us. From having got a draw against a very good team, I go away feeling we've been mugged.''

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said that as a general rule he did not like talking about referee's decisions. ''It's difficult to comment because my position from the bench is not so good, but I spoke to Pepe and he told me the penalty was clear.''

Madrid's recent star signing Gareth Bale was sidelined due to a left thigh injury sustained during training last week.

Elsewhere, two goals each by Ivan Rakitic and Carlos Bacca gave Sevilla a 4-1 win over nine-man Rayo Vallecano.

An injury time goal by Brazil midfielder Jonas gave Valencia a 1-0 win over Granada.

Barcelona leads the standings with Atletico Madrid second-place, also on 18 points after six matches, but on a worse goal differential.

Real Madrid is third on 16 with Valencia seventh on nine, while Granada is 14th on five, Elche is 18th on three and Rayo is bottom, also on three.

QUETTA: Two rockets were fired at the helicopter carrying Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Major General Mohammad Saeed Aleem, in Balochistan's Awaran district on Thursday, a security official said.

A security official who did not want to be named told Dawn.com that militants fired two rockets at the helicopter of chairman NDMA in Mashkay tehsil of earthquake affected Awaran district.

"The NDMA chairman is safe", the official added.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

Major General Samraiz Salik was also accompanying the chairman NDMA when rockets were fired.

Relief and rescue workers have been facing difficulties in reaching out to earthquake survivors and threats loom over security forces engaged in a massive relief and rescue operation in Balochistan's Awaran district.

"There are long distances and security threats," Jan Buledi, the spokesman for the Balochistan government told Dawn.com.

Awaran is considered to be one of the most sensitive and troubled districts of Balochistan.

It is also the hometown of Baloch guerrila commander, Dr Allah Nazar Baloch.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch has already made an appeal to Dr Allah Naar Baloch to cooperate with aid agencies to support earthquake survivors.

"If there was no cooperation on the part of Allah Nazar, the survivors would die of hunger", Dr Baloch said.

Security forces blame Allah Nazar for carrying subversive activities in different parts of Balochistan.

Moreover, the defunct Baloch Liberation Front, which is known for targeting security forces and vital national installations, is also active in the area.

The latest incident comes two days after the militants opened fire at a vehicle at Mashkay check post near Awaran.

There was no loss of human life in either attack.

KARACHI: The body of a teenaged schoolgirl was found on Karachi’s Seaview beach on Thursday.

The autopsy report of the girl confirmed that she was “sodomised”, a medico-legal officer informed Dawn.com on condition of anonymity.

The MLO said the girl was “smothered after being sodomised”. She added that the girl died 36 to 48 hours before her body was recovered and sent for post-mortem today. Moreover, the report revealed that her skin had peeled off from one side of the face due to seawater abrasion. Apart from that, there were small bruises on her body.

According to the police, the girl aged between 13-14 years was killed before being dumped near the sea. Her body was discovered by bystanders who subsequently alerted authorities. She was wearing a school uniform.

The police had earlier suspected that the girl might have been raped before being murdered. However, Head of Emergency Ward at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Dr Seemin Jamali did not confirm then since the autopsy was underway.

Preliminary details by the police suggested that the victim was a resident of the city’s Banghoria Goth in Azizabad. A day before, her family had filed a report regarding her kidnapping, police sources told Dawn.com.

SRINAGAR: Militants stormed a police station and an Indian army base in Kashmir on Thursday, killing at least nine in an attack the state's chief minister said was aimed at derailing peace talks between India and Pakistan.

“This attack in Jammu is aimed at derailing the dialogue process,” said Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the Indian administered Kashmir.

The group of militants who attacked a police station and army camp in India administered Kashmir on Thursday had crossed the border from Pakistan the previous day, the state's chief minister said.

Omar Abdullah told reporters that the raid appeared designed to upset plans for a meeting in New York this week between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“Given the history, timing and location, the aim is to derail the proposed meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart,” Abdullah said. “There are forces that are inimical to peace and want to derail any peace process.”

The militants, all wearing army fatigues, lobbed grenades and opened fire at the Hiranagar police station near the border with Pakistan, police said.

Around the same time attackers struck at an army base in the nearby Samba district in the southern-most part of the the Indian-administered state where a fierce gunbattle with soldiers took place and Indian tanks were deployed.

The attacks are set to overshadow a meeting by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this weekend, the first top-level dialogue in three years.

Manmohan Singh condemned “the heinous terrorist attack” in a statement but said that that it “will not deter us and will not succeed in derailing our efforts to find a resolution to all problems through a process of dialogue”.

Militant attacks have a history of stalling stop-start peace efforts between the two neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence, because New Delhi accuses Pakistan of abetting the groups which strike Indian targets.

The NDTV channel reported that Thursday's attackers may have driven from the police station to the army camp in a hijacked truck, but other security sources cautioned that there might have been separate groups.

“I was inside the dhaba (a roadside eatery) when I saw three men entering the camp firing a barrage of bullets. They opened the gates and entered,” one eyewitness told reporters outside the army camp in Samba.

Gunshots could be heard ringing out from inside the walled compound, while two officers could be seen running out carrying an injured man over their shoulder.

At least five policemen and two civilians were killed in the first attack on the police station in Kathua district, a police officer told AFP, and at least two soldiers including an officer died in the second assault, a separate army source who asked not to be named confirmed.

Indian premier Singh confirmed on Wednesday that he would meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif despite calls from the opposition to take a hardline with Islamabad.

Formal peace talks known as the Composite Dialogue are currently off and India has been keen to downplay any expectation they might restart as a result of Sunday's talks.

“Primarily we will see whether the dialogue process that started between the two countries, that stopped and got derailed, can that be brought back on track,” Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters at the UN on Wednesday.

Kashmir, a picturesque Himalayan territory, is divided between India and Pakistan by a de facto border known as the Line of Control (LoC) but it is claimed in full by both countries.