Casualty rate soars for Afghan security forces
AFP, Washington
Afghan security forces are being killed or wounded in attacks by the Taliban and other groups in even higher numbers than last year, when they suffered devastating losses, a NATO official said Thursday.
Authorities estimate about 5,000 local police and troops were killed in 2015 — with an additional 15,000 wounded.
20 killed in Nepal bus accident
AP, Kathmandu
At least 20 people were killed and another 17 hurt when bus drove off a highway in Nepal and plunged into a river on Friday, police said.
Police office said the bus rolled about 100 meters (330 feet) down the slope early Friday and crashed into the fast-flowing Trishuli river near Chandibhanjyang, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.
Police and villagers were helping the injured and pulling the dead from wreckage, which was mostly submerged in the river.
Iraqi forces retake town in Mosul
AFP, Iraq
Iraqi forces today pushed the Islamic State group from Qayyarah, a northern town considered strategic for any future offensive against the jihadists’ last stronghold of Mosul.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hailed the victory as a key step in the fight against ISIS but hours later suffered yet another political setback when lawmakers impeached his defence minister.
Special forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes, wrapped up a three-day operation to retake Qayyarah, a town located on the banks of the Tigris river.
Philippines, rebels to sign ceasefire deal
Reuters, Oslo
The Philippine government and Maoist-led rebels will sign an indefinite ceasefire agreement on Friday as part of efforts to end a conflict that has lasted almost five decades and killed at least 40,000 people, Norway said.
Norway’s Foreign Ministry, hosting the talks, said the ceasefire would be signed at a ceremony at 0900 GMT in Oslo, extending a truce in place since last weekend for the Oslo meeting which began on Monday.
Representatives of both the government and communist guerrillas would sign a joint declaration committing “to unilateral ceasefires with no time limit”, it said. The talks in Norway are the first formal meeting in five years.
