ANALYSIS
We reported earlier this week that the Russians are sending the Lebanese army a gift of 10 MiG-29s. This will more than double the size of the Lebanese air force's fixed wing strike force, currently composed of four Hawker Hunters and four Fouga Magisters. Those existing eight planes are several decades old and the acquisition by the Lebanese air force of the MiG-29s will provide the Lebanese military with far more modern and sophisticated fighter jets than anything the Lebanese armed forces has ever had in its arsenal.
Map showing location of North and South Waziristan in northern Pakistan and bordering on Afghanistan.
At least 17 Pakistani troops were killed Thursday when their convoy was bombed and attacked by al-Qaeda militants on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in North Waziristan, and the U.S. says that they may attack targets inside Pakistan, if they see them as being "actionable."

"We never take options off the table, and if we find actionable targets, we're going to hit them. Terrorist hideouts are something that's absolutely going to have to be addressed. There's no doubt that more aggressive steps need to be taken against the terrorists," said Tony Snow, the White House's Press Secretary, during a press conference today.

The U.S. believes that terrorists, who are loyal to al-Qaeda's leader Osama bin laden are currently seeking shelter in the regions near the borders of the two countries.

At least 35 civilians and 9 police officers were killed and nearly two dozen were injured in a separate bombing when a suicide car bomber blew up a Chinese military convoy in Pakistan's southwest industrial district. None of the Chinese military personnel were injured or killed.

"The bomber driving a Mazda car blew himself up," said Tariq Khosa, the police chief of Baluchistan province who also added that the area was "very crowded."