Militants kill 10 Afghan soldiers in base attack
Reuters, Kabul
Militants attacked an Afghan government army base in the southern province of Kandahar, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding nine, defense officials said on Tuesday.
The attack began just before midnight on Monday, the Afghan defense ministry said in a statement. Government forces at Camp Achakzai in Shawali Kot district battled for several hours, killing at least 12 attackers, ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri told Reuters.
Car bomb kills four in Syria’s Homs
AFP, Damascus
A car bomb killed four people and wounded more than two dozen in Syria’s third city Homs on Tuesday, state media said, days after the government regained full control.
The blast struck near the Al-Zahraa neighbourhood, where most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as President Bashar al-Assad. The bomber drove the vehicle towards a checkpoint where security forces opened fire, detonating the explosives inside, state news agency SANA said.
US delivers 6 patrol boats to Vietnam
Reuters, Hanoi
The United States has transferred six patrol boats to the Vietnam coast guard, to help build security cooperation between the two countries, U.S. embassy in Hanoi said in a statement on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his hope for a stronger relationship with Vietnam, after the Obama administration put ties on a stronger footing amid Vietnam’s territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Vietnam, Indonesia vessels clash in South China Sea
AP, Jakarta
Indonesia says several Vietnamese fishing vessels escaped its waters following a show of force by Vietnam’s coast guard in the South China Sea. Indonesia’s Maritime and Fisheries Ministry said Tuesday that Vietnam is holding an Indonesian fisheries officer, who was aboard one of the Vietnamese vessels, and Indonesia has 11 Vietnamese crew members in its custody.
