| FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK TWITTER FLIPBOARD TELEGRAM |
Al-Shabaab militants attacked a military base near capital Mogadishu Friday morning killing at least 12 Somali soldiers, a security official said.
Gen. Sheegow Ahmed Ali, a Somali military official, told state media that the militants rammed a car packed with explosives into the Barire military base, 50 kilometers southwest Mogadishu.
Iraq’s Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Iraq, but faced being left stranded after Baghdad ordered international flights to halt service to Kurdish airports starting Friday. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ruled out the use of force, but vowed to take other measures to keep his country from breaking apart as the standoff looked set to worsen.
The referendum passed with more than 92 percent of voters approving independence, the Kurdish region’s election commission told a news conference on Wednesday. Turnout was over 72 percent, it said.
Six people were killed in clashes and a Daesh attack in northern and western Iraq on Wednesday, according to security officials.
Four bombers attacked a police station in al-Ishaqiya in the northern Saladin province, triggering clashes with security forces, police lieutenant Numan al-Jubouri said.
The Philippine Army said it had captured a training camp of communist rebels deep in the forests of Batangas City, after gunfights that drove hundreds of families to evacuation centers and forced 15 schools to suspend classes.
Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, on Monday said more soldiers were being deployed to run after the rebels. Checkpoints had been set up while security in sea ports was tightened around Batangas City.
Clashes that erupted in Ethiopia earlier this month between two of the country’s largest ethnic groups have killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands more, the government said.
The killing of two local administrators coupled with long-running land disputes led to an outbreak of fighting between the Oromo and Somali peoples in the south and east, government spokesman Negeri Lencho said.