Xinhua, Kabul
Thirty-four militants and seven police were killed and 14 people were wounded in daily violence in Afghanistan, authorities said Monday.
In one incident, 12 civilians were wounded after an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at a public picnic area in Chaparhar district, eastern Nangarhar province roughly at 9:00 a.m. local time Monday, the provincial government said in a statement.
US fighter jet crashes off Japan coast
AFP, Tokyo
A US F15 fighter jet crashed off the southern coast of Japan on Monday, local media reported, adding that the jet’s pilot ejected and was rescued by Japanese forces.
There was no immediate confirmation of the crash from the defence ministry, which said it was gathering information on the report, or the US military.
The Kyodo news agency said the jet belonged to the US Kadena Air Base and crashed early Monday morning about 80 kilometres south of Naha, the regional capital of Japan’s southern Okinawa island.
5 shot dead in southern Thailand
AP, Hat Yai
Five men were fatally shot Monday in southern Thailand, police said, the latest killings in a region plagued by insurgency for more than a decade.
The five were killed at about 1 a.m. as they were meeting at the home of one of the victims, said police Capt. Zulkifli Rasoe, a deputy investigator in Bannangsta district in Yala province. An unknown number of attackers broke into the house and opened fire on the victims before escaping, he said.
Heavy fighting on Yemen’s west coast kills hundreds
AP, Sanaa
Yemeni officials say heavy fighting between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 600 people on both sides in recent days. Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, have been advancing along the western coast in recent weeks as they battle the rebels, known as Houthis.
The officials said Monday the fighting has escalated as government forces close in on the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, a vital lifeline through which most of the Yemeni population’s food and medicine enters.
US fighter jet crashes off Japan, pilot ejects
AFP, Tokyo
A US F15 fighter jet crashed off the southern coast of Japan on Monday but the pilot ejected and was rescued by Japanese forces, Tokyo’s defence minister said.
The Japanese military “received information that a crew member of the F15 jet, which belongs to the Kadena Air Base, ejected above the sea some 50 miles (80 kilometres) south of” Naha, the regional capital of Japan’s southern Okinawa island, Itsunori Onodera told reporters.
