2005: In Depth - Quake
2005 7 April - Bus services, the first in 60 years, operate between Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

More than 200 suspected Islamic extremists are detained at premises which include religious schools and mosques. The move comes after deadly attacks in the British capital; three of the bombers visited Pakistan in 2004.

2005 August - Pakistan tests its first, nuclear-capable cruise missile.

Kashmir quake

2005 8 October - An earthquake, with its epicentre in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, kills tens of thousands of people. The city of Muzaffarabad is among the worst-hit areas.

2006 January - Up to 18 people are killed in a US missile strike, apparently targeting senior al-Qaeda figures, on a border village in the north.

2006 February - More than 30 people are killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack and ensuing violence at a Shia Muslim procession in the north-west.

2006 April - A suspected double suicide bombing kills at least 57 people at a Sunni Muslim ceremony in Karachi.


Baloch nationalists have been fighting for autonomy


2006: Battle over Balochistan
2006 August - Security forces kill prominent Balochistan tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. Protests over his death turn violent.

2006 October - Raid on an Islamic seminary in the tribal area of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan kills up to 80 people, sparking anti-government protests. The army says the madrassa was a training camp for militants.

2006 December - Pakistan says it has successfully test-fired a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

2007 January - Islamabad rejects an assertion by the head of US National Intelligence that al-Qaeda leaders are hiding out in Pakistan.

2007 January-June - Tension mounts between the government and the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad.

2007 February - Bombings in different parts of the country, including at Islamabad's Marriott Hotel and the international airport, kill a number of people.

68 passengers, most of them Pakistanis, are killed by bomb blasts and a blaze on a train travelling between the Indian capital New Delhi and the Pakistani city of Lahore.

Pakistan and India sign an agreement aimed at reducing the risk of accidental nuclear war.

Musharraf targets judiciary

2007 March - President Musharraf suspends the Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, triggering a wave of anger across the country.

First joint protests held by the parties of exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.


RED MOSQUE SIEGE

The battle for the radical Red Mosque killed over 100 people.


Profile: Red Mosque
In pictures: Mosque stand-off
2007: Challenge to Musharraf
2007

March-April - Officials say around 250 people have been killed in fighting between South Waziristan tribesmen and foreign militants said to be linked to al-Qaeda.

2007 May - Several killed in Karachi during rival demonstrations over dismissal of Chief Justice Chaudhry. Subsequent strikes paralyse much of the country.

2007 May - A bomb blast in a hotel in Peshawar kills 24.

2007 June - President Musharraf extends media controls to include the internet and mobile phones amid a growing challenge to his rule.

2007 July - Security forces storm the Red Mosque complex in Islamabad following a week-long siege.

Supreme Court reinstates Chief Justice Chaudhry.

2007 July - Ms Bhutto, President Musharraf hold a secret meeting in Abu Dhabi on a possible power-sharing deal.

2007 August - Supreme Court rules Nawaz Sharif can return from exile.


TOP JUDGE BECOMES A HERO

Suspended Chief Justice Chaudhry became a focus for opposition to President Musharraf


Q&A: Pakistan's judicial crisis
2007

September - Mr Sharif returns but is sent back to exile within hours.

2007 October - Musharraf wins most votes in presidential election. The Supreme Court says no winner can be formally announced until it rules if the general was eligible to stand for election while still army chief.

Nearly 200 people die in fighting with Islamic militants in North Waziristan, stronghold of pro-Taleban and al-Qaida groups.

Ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto returns from exile. Dozens of people die in a suicide bomb targetting her homecoming parade in Karachi.

Emergency rule

2007 November - Gen Musharraf declares emergency rule while still awaiting Supreme Court ruling on whether he was eligible to run for re-election. Chief Justice Chaudhry is dismissed. Ms Bhutto is briefly placed under house arrest.

Caretaker government sworn in.

New Supreme Court - now staffed with compliant judges - dismisses challenges to Musharraf's re-election.

Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner announces that general elections to be held on 8 January 2008.

Nawaz Sharif returns from exile again.

Musharraf resigns from army post and is sworn in for second term as president.

Bhutto assassinated

2007 15 December - State of emergency lifted.

27 December - Benazir Bhutto assassinated at election campaign rally in Rawalpindi.

2008 January - Elections postponed to 18 February.

Suicide bomber kills more than 20 policemen gathered outside the High Court in Lahore ahead of an anti-government rally.

Up to 90 fighters killed in clashes in the tribal region of South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, where militants have been openly challenging the army.

2008 February - Parliamentary elections. The two main opposition parties gain a clear majority. They later agree to form a coalition government.

2008 March - Pakistan People's Party (PPP) nominee Yusuf Raza Gilani becomes prime minister.

2008 May - The disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, says allegations he passed on nuclear secrets are false and that he was made a scapegoat.

Musharraf steps down

2008 August - The two main governing parties agree to launch impeachment proceedings against President Musharraf.

Mr Musharraf resigns. Senate Speaker Muhammad Sumroo becomes acting president.

PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari - Benazir Bhutto's widower - says he will be the party's candidate in the presidential election set for 6 September.

Former PM Nawaz Sharif pulls his PML-N out of the coalition government, accusing the PPP of breaking its promise to approve the reinstatement of all judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf.


PAKISTAN'S TALEBAN



Taleban militia have expanded their influence in Pakistan's tribal areas


Pakistan's spreading Taleban war
Profile: Baitullah Mehsud
Will Sharia law bring order to Swat?
2008

September - Asif Ali Zardari elected by legislators as Pakistan's new president.

Marriott Hotel in Islamabad devastated in a suicide truck bombing which leaves at least 50 dead. An Islamist militant group claims responsibility.

2008 October - Earthquake in south-western province of Balochistan leaves hundreds dead.

2008 November - President Zardari warns the US military that missile strikes on Pakistani territory are "counter-productive".

The government borrows billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund to overcome its spiralling debt crisis.

Militancy

2008 December - India says militants who carried out the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November had Pakistani links, and it urges Pakistani action. Islamabad denies any involvement in the attacks, but promises to co-operate with the Indian investigation.

2009 February - Government agrees to implement Sharia law in north-western Swat valley in effort to persuade Islamist militants there to agree to permanent ceasefire.

2009 March - Gunmen in Lahore attack a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team. Five policemen are killed and seven players injured.

After days of public protests, the government gives in to opposition demands and announces the reinstatement of sacked former chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, and other judges dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf. The main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, calls off a mass protest march.

At least 40 people are killed when gunmen storm a police academy in Lahore.

2009 April - Swat agreement breaks down after Taleban-linked militants seek to extend their power-base. Government attempts to re-impose its writ over north-western districts controlled by militants.

__________________
Always do what you are afraid to do
Saqib Riaz(TIPO KHAN)