Pakistan’s military says its forces raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of the local Taliban and killed eight militants. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber on Monday targeted a vehicle with security forces in the northwestern Bannu district, killing two civilians and wounding 10 others, including three soldiers. In Sunday’s raid, no detail was given about the militants’ identities. But blame usually falls on the Pakistani Taliban, a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Tensions between the two countries have spiked with Pakistan demanding the Taliban administration stop the militants from using Afghan soil to launch attacks.
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Extremist-linked rebels kill at least 44 villagers in separate attacks in Congo’s volatile east
Local authorities and civil society leaders say extremist-linked rebels killed at least 44 villagers in Congo’s volatile eastern region during separate attacks that started on Sunday night. Eastern Congo has been ravaged by conflict for decades as more than 120 armed groups fight for control of valuable mineral resources and some try to protect their communities. Mass killings by rebels are frequent. The violence has sent nearly seven million people fleeing their homes. Deadly attacks have intensified in recent weeks as authorities and security forces struggle to regain control.
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Militants kill 11 farmers in Nigeria’s north, raising fresh concerns about food supplies
Locals and authorities in Nigeria’s Borno state say Islamic rebels have killed 11 farmers and abducted several others during an attack on Sunday that was the latest of several to threaten food supplies in the hard-hit region. One resident said Monday that about six of the victims were from the same family. Such attacks on farmers have become rampant in Borno state where Islamic extremist rebels launched an insurgency in 2009 to fight against Western education and to establish Islamic Shariah law in the region. Analysts feared the attacks could have “significant implications for food security in the region.”
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A roadside bomb kills 2 soldiers and troops kill 1 militant in northwest Pakistan
The Pakistani military say two soldiers and one militant have been killed in a roadside bomb explosion and in a separate shootout during an overnight military operation in the northwest along the border with Afghanistan. Two militants were arrested. A statement said an operation was conducted in the Tirah valley of Khyber district triggered a shootout that left one militant dead late Friday night. The military said two soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a security patrol in South Waziristan overnight. After a yearslong operation, the army previously announced it had cleared the region of local and foreign militants. Occasional attacks have continued, however.
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At least 27 dead with dozens more missing after boat capsizes in northwest Congo
A senior Congolese official says a boat capsized in Congo’s northwest killing at least 27 people. More than 70 others were missing as rescuers searched frantically for survivors. The locally made boat capsized late Friday in the town of Mbandaka in Equateur Province as it transported more than 100 passengers along the Congo River to the town of Bolomba. That’s according to Taylor Nganzi, deputy provincial governor, who said 27 bodies had been recovered. The New Civil Society of Congo, a local civil society group, said 49 people died in the accident, which it said occurred after an engine failure. The contradictory death tolls could not immediately be reconciled.
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Evacuation order lifted for northern Canadian city after weeks of fire danger
An evacuation order was lifted for the northern Canadian city of Yellowknife — three weeks after a nearby wildfire forced the city’s 20-thousand residents out of their homes. The order for the capital of the Northwest Territories, which also included two the First Nation communities in the area, was downgraded Wednesday to an evacuation alert. The fire is considered held, meaning it wasn’t expected to grow under current conditions. Thousands of vehicles are expected to travel to Yellowknife in the coming days, and the first flight back to the territorial capital arrived this morning.
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India to participate in Saudi Arabia summit on finding ways to start Ukraine war negotiations
An Indian official says New Delhi will participate in a weekend meeting that Saudi Arabia is hosting to find a way to start negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. A spokesman for India’s External Affairs Ministry said Thursday that Saudi Arabia invited India to the two-day meeting in Jeddah and its “participation is in consonance with our long-standing position that dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward.” The spokesman didn’t reveal who would represent the country at the summit. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office confirmed Sunday that a Ukrainian-organized peace summit would take place in Saudi Arabia.
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Interpol issues notice for Lebanese man suspected of trafficking in looted antiquities
Lebanese officials say Interpol has issued an international notice for a Lebanese man suspected of trafficking stolen antiquities, weeks after he was questioned in his native country. The Red Notice from Interpol was unsealed 10 months after a criminal court in New York issued an arrest warrant for Georges Lotfi, 82, charging him with criminal possession of stolen property as well as possessing looted artifacts. Lotfi was questioned by Lebanese authorities earlier this year but denied the charges, claiming that he bought the disputed items from archeologists. The officials say Lotfi claims he sold the antiquities to a museum in the U.S.
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France accuses Russia of faking websites to sow confusion and disinformation about Ukraine war
France’s government has accused Russia of a long-running online manipulation campaign that included impersonating the websites of leading French media and the French Foreign Ministry. The government says the alleged campaign was designed to spread confusion about the war in Ukraine. France’s agency for fighting foreign digital interference said Tuesday that it has monitored the alleged operation since soon after Russia invaded its neighbor. and traced it to Russian individuals, companies and entities affiliated to the Russian state. It says France was one of several European countries targeted and alleges the campaign has links to a sprawling disinformation network that Facebook parent Meta exposed last year. The Russian Embassy in France didn’t immediately comment.
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Mexico finds 343 migrants in abandoned truck trailer
Mexican authorities say they have found 343 migrants, including 103 unaccompanied minors, in an abandoned freight truck container on the side of a highway. The National Immigration Institute said Monday the trailer was found Sunday night in the steamy Gulf coast state of Veracruz. It was on a route often used by people smugglers to bring migrants to the U.S. border. Previously, migrants have been found dead inside abandoned freight containers. But the migrants found Sunday were well, and the conditions they were found in illustrate the increasing sophistication of migrant smugglers. The trailer had fans and ventilation ports cut in the roof, and the migrants wore color-coded bracelets, apparently to identify them as smugglers’ clients.