05/18/2013 15:39 GMT

BANGUI, Central African Republic, May 18, 2013 (AFP) - Armed men raided several houses in a town in the northeastern Central African Republic, leaving six people dead, a military official told AFP Saturday.

"The assailants arrived in several cars and fired shots as they entered the town, so residents fled," said the official of the attack in Bouca, 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of the capital Bangui, on Friday.

"Then they headed to the houses and began looting. Six bodies were found after the attack."

05/18/2013 19:19 GMT

by Aminu ABUBAKAR

KANO, Nigeria, May 18, 2013 (AFP) - Nigeria's military on Saturday imposed a 24-hour curfew in parts of a northeastern city as soldiers pressed on with a campaign against Boko Haram Islamists that has sent people fleeing from their homes.

Nigeria launched the sweeping operation this week, deploying thousands of troops across three states where President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency after the Islamists seized territory and chased out the government.

05/17/2013 19:41 GMT

by Aminu ABUBAKAR

KANO, Nigeria, May 17, 2013 (AFP) - Nigeria's military on Friday attacked Boko Haram Islamist strongholds across the northeast, launching air strikes on insurgent camp with dozens of militants killed in the fighting, the military said.

Several thousand soldiers have spread across three northeastern states where President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency, saying Boko Haram had seized territory and declared war on the government.

05/17/2013 15:22 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 17, 2013 (AFP) - Twin bomb attacks on Friday killed at least 13 people outside mosques in northwest Pakistan, where the party of cricket star Imran Khan is forming a coalition government, officials said.

The blasts targeted the two mosques in the Baazdara area of northwestern Malakand region, senior local administration official Amjad Ali Khan told AFP.

"The two blasts killed at least 13 people and wounded 48 others," Khan said. "Eight of the injured people are in a critical condition," he added.

05/16/2013 19:43 GMT

BEIRUT, May 16, 2013 (AFP) - The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition on Thursday said regime forces have attacked the village of Khirbet Suda in Homs province and murdered at least 18 people.

"Victims were either killed by execution at gunpoint, or slaughtered with knives," a statement said.

There were concerns that President Bashar al-Assad's forces "will re-enter the village in the coming hours, as Khirbet Suda remains under a crippling blockade," the statement added.

05/16/2013 16:07 GMT

GOMA (RDCongo), 16 mai 2013 (AFP) - Quarante personnes, dont 8 soldats congolais, ont été tuées dans des affrontements entre l'armée et un groupe de miliciens Maï-Maï, dans la province du Nord-Kivu (est de la République démocratique du Congo, RDC), a-t-on appris jeudi de source officielle.

Ces affrontements se sont produits mercredi à l'aube dans la ville de Beni, à environ 250 kilomètres au nord de Goma, capitale provinciale du Nord-Kivu.

05/16/2013 17:48 GMT

by Marwan Ibrahim

KIRKUK, Iraq, May 16, 2013 (AFP) - A suicide bomber attacked Shiite mourners in north Iraq Thursday, killing 12 people, and 13 died in other violence, officials said, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed sectarianism for unrest plaguing the country.

The suicide bomber tried to enter Al-Zahraa husseiniyah, a Shiite place of worship in the city of Kirkuk, where relatives of victims from violence the day before were receiving condolences.

But the attacker was stopped by police, a high-ranking police officer said.

05/16/2013 12:51 GMT

COLOMBO, May 16, 2013 (AFP) - Sri Lankan troops have completed clearing mines from all areas needed for re-settlement and farming in the island's former war zone, the military said Thursday, nearly four years after crushing Tamil rebels.

The military said it had removed nearly a million unexploded ordnances, including anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines and improvised explosive devices, from the northern and eastern regions where the rebels fought for independence.

05/16/2013 13:31 GMT

by Sardar Ahmad

KABUL, May 16, 2013 (AFP) - A suicide car bomb targeted a foreign military convoy in Kabul on Thursday, killing 15 people including five Americans in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for nearly a year, officials said.

The powerful explosion, which struck at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) in the Shah Shaheed southeastern residential district, also injured about 40 passers-by including many children going to school, officials said.