Reuters, Quetta
A roadside bomb killed eight soldiers in a remote district in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan, a government official said on Tuesday, the second attack within days in the troubled region.
The blast late on Monday in Harnai district was some 160 km (100 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta, where a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into an army truck on Tuesday, killing eight soldiers and seven civilians.
Israel arrests Islamic cleric for ‘incitement’
AFP, Jerusalem
Israeli police arrested a firebrand Islamic cleric on Tuesday who has been repeatedly accused of inciting violence over a sensitive Jerusalem holy site where tensions again flared last month. Raed Salah, released from prison in January after serving a nine-month sentence, is accused of inciting violence and terrorism as well as support for and participation in an illegal organisation, police said.
Taiwan on high alert after China’s air force drills
Reuters, Taipei
Taiwan’s military is on a high state of alert following three straight days of drills by the Chinese air force near to the self-ruled island which Beijing claims as its own, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.
The Chinese aircraft, which have included bombers and advanced fighter jets, have been staging exercises flying through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines.
Yemen air raids exceed rate last year: UN
AFP, Dubai
The number of air strikes on Yemen in the first half of 2017 has already exceeded the total for 12 months last year, according to a UN report released Monday.
Since 2015, Yemen has been the site of a devastating war between the Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels allied with Iran.
The country is also regularly targeted by US drone strikes aiming for Al-Qaeda cells that have flourished in the chaos of the conflict.
