Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (AFP): Four soldiers and 10 volunteers with the military were killed in northern Burkina Faso, a security source said Thursday. The attack on Wednesday in Zorkoum targeted a unit of soldiers and members of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), the source said. “We have sadly lost four soldiers ...
WASHINGTON (AA) – ISIS has a stronger presence in Afghanistan than the previous year following the withdrawal of US troops in August 2021, the top US general for the Middle East said Thursday. Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), said, “ISI...
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US conducted airstrikes Thursday against Iran-backed groups in eastern Syria in response to a drone attack that killed a US contractor and injured five service members, said the Pentagon. In a statement, the Pentagon said a “one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near...
LONDON (AA) – A judge in the UK on Wednesday launched an independent probe into allegations of dozens of summary killings by British troops in Afghanistan. Speaking to reporters in London, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, the chair of the inquiry, issued a call for anyone with evidence to come forward. It is “critical” that those who [&he...
WASHINGTON (AA) – US Senator Chris Van Hollen on Wednesday criticized an Israeli bill that would allow Israelis back into four West Bank settlements evacuated in 2005. The senator said the action, which rolled back an agreement reached more than 20 years ago to evacuate the settlements, was inconsistent with the obligations Israel had taken [&...
ISTANBUL (AA) – The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran have agreed to meet soon in preparation to reopen embassies and consulates of the two countries. Saudi top diplomat Faisal bin Farhan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian talked by phone late Tuesday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said. “At the beginning of...
WASHINGTON (AA) – The Biden administration will release a review of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan next month and will make it available to Congress, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday. “I am committed and determined to make that information available to Congress, and we will do that by mid-April,” Blinke...
AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – The Jordanian parliament has approved a proposal to expel the Israeli ambassador as a mark of protest over offensive statements by the Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The Zionist minister had made derogatory statements denying the very existence of the Palestinian nation. In a speech in Paris, Smotrich denied th...
Washington, United States (AFP): The United States on Tuesday joined denunciations of Israel’s far-right finance minister for denying the existence of Palestinians, calling his remarks “dangerous.” “We found those comments to not only be inaccurate but also deeply concerning and dangerous,” State Department spokes...
Kabul, Afghanistan (AFP): At least 12 people were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by a strong earthquake felt across thousands of kilometres, but the region appeared Wednesday to have dodged the mass casualties usually associated with a tremor of such scale. The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.5 quake was centred near J...
