YAOUNDE, Cameroon – The multinational forces fighting the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram have arrested five of the group’s leaders and freed dozens of captive women and children, Cameroon’s government announced Saturday.
The raids targeting Boko Haram bases in the northern Madawaya forest earlier this month freed 28 children and at least 18 women, government spokesman Issa Tchiroma said.
Boko Haram had set up camp in the forest after fleeing another military operation in neighboring Nigeria and had been training captive young girls and women as suicide bombers, he said.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iranians staged an international contest for cartoons depicting the Holocaust on Saturday but insisted the event was aimed at criticizing alleged Western double standards regarding free expression and not at denying the Nazi genocide.
The event was nevertheless likely to shock many around the world and could embarrass Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other moderates who have tried to improve ties with the West following last year’s landmark nuclear deal.
Iran has long backed armed groups committed to Israel’s destruction, and its leaders have called for it to be wiped off the map.
BAGHDAD – More than a dozen suicide bombers attacked a residential and government complex outside Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least six people, an official said.
The police chief of the town of Amiriyat Fallujah, Col. Ali al-Issawi, said at least 14 suicide attackers broke into the complex at dawn.
Al-Issawi said five of the attackers blew up themselves while clashing with security forces, while others holed up inside the buildings, and were later killed.
He added that five troops and one civilian were killed, while another 18 people were wounded.
The town is located a few miles south of Fallujah, the main Islamic State stronghold in Anbar province, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.
Associated Press
