Activists: Syrian regime airstrikes kill 25
BEIRUT Syrian government warplanes carried out airstrikes on a rebellious neighborhood in the capital and a village in the countrys northeast on Sunday, killing at least 25 people, including a dozen children, activists said.
With its ground forces stretched thin, President Bashar Assads regime has relied heavily on its fighter jets and helicopters to try to stem rebel advances in the countrys civil war. The air raids frequently hit civilian areas, drawing criticism from the international community.
A Human Rights Watch report last week accused the Syrian government of committing war crimes by using indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate airstrikes against civilians, killing at least 4,300 people since the summer.
On Sunday, a government jet bombed rebel-held areas in the predominantly Kurdish village of Hadad in the northeastern province of Hassaka, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said at least 16 people were killed, including two women and three children.
16 killed in attack on Somali high court
MOGADISHU, Somalia A barrage of bullets and two car bomb blasts rattled Mogadishu on Sunday when nine al-Shabab Islamic extremists stormed Somalias main court complex, officials said, in a two-hour attack that shows the countrys most dangerous militant group may be down but not defeated.
A preliminary death toll stood at 16, including all nine attackers. The government didnt immediately publicize the number of security forces, government employees and civilians who died during the attack.
The assault was the most serious in Mogadishu since al-Shabab was forced out of the capital in August 2011. Al-Shabab controls far less territory today than in recent years, and its influence appears to be on the decline, but Sundays attack proved the extremists are still capable of pulling off well-planned, audacious assaults.
The top U.N. official for Somalia, Augustine P. Mahiga, said he was shocked and outraged by the attack. Mahiga said the total number of dead wasnt clear, but that reports indicated that many innocent civilians were killed including women and at least one child.
Attacks in Iraq kill 10 people
BAGHDAD A series of attacks in Iraq on Sunday killed 10 people, including a Sunni candidate running in the upcoming provincial elections.
The attacks against security forces and a provincial election candidate came as the country is preparing for the first vote since the U.S. withdrawal. In the April 20 elections, Iraqis are to choose provincial governing councils.
The most serious attack came at night near the northern city of Mosul, when a booby-trapped body exploded among a group of policemen, who were trying to inspect the body that was left in the street. Police said that five policemen were killed.
Hours earlier, police said that Najam Saeed, a Sunni candidate in the provincial elections, was killed when a roadside bomb hit his convoy near Muqadiyah town, 55 miles north of Baghdad. The blast was followed by shooting between gunmen and the candidates bodyguards.
Two of Saeeds brothers were killed, and the candidates son and three bodyguards were wounded in the attack.
Investigators probe jets crash into sea in Bali
BALI, Indonesia Indonesian investigators on Sunday began working to determine what caused a new Lion Air passenger jet to miss a runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 on board.
The National Transportation Safety Committee is examining the wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 that snapped in half before coming to a stop in shallow water near Balis airport on Saturday, said Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan.
He said aviation authorities had already removed the planes flight data recorder and were planning to tow the aircraft to a beach. Divers were searching for the cockpit voice recorder located in the tail. Experts are examining what could have caused the crash, including whether wind shear may have played a role.
Associated Press
