AFP, Kabul
A Taliban suicide bomber targeted a NATO convoy in downtown Kabul today, triggering a powerful explosion in a rush-hour attack that comes just days after the resurgent militant group overran a key northern city.
No casualties were immediately reported from the bombing, which sent a thick plume of smoke rising into the sky, as the Taliban ramp up attacks on government and foreign targets.
Iran tests new long-range missile
Reuters, Dubai
Iran successfully tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile, Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan was quoted as saying on Sunday, signaling an apparent advance in Tehran’s attempts to improve the accuracy of its missile battery.
“The Emad missile is able to strike targets with a high level of precision and completely destroy them,” state news agency IRNA quoted Dehghan as saying.
Lake Chad blasts claim 37 lives
AP, N’djamena
At least five suicide bombers on Saturday targeted a village in Chad that is home to thousands of Nigerians who have fled Islamic extremist violence, killing at least 37 people and wounding about 50 others in what appeared to be coordinated attacks, officials said.
Authorities blamed the extremist Boko Haram group from neighboring Nigeria for staging the attacks in the western village of Baga Sola, according to a communique from government spokesman Hassan Sylla Bakari.
US to make payments to Kunduz victims
Reuters, Washington
The U.S. Department of Defense will seek to make “condolence payments” to families of victims of a U.S. air strike that mistakenly hit a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 22 people, the Pentagon said on Saturday.
“The Department of Defense believes it is important to address the consequences of the tragic incident at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan,” spokesman Peter Cook said .
Egypt to buy two French warships
AFP, Cairo
Egypt signed a deal with France on Saturday to buy two Mistral warships originally ordered by Russia as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls began an Arab tour.
Valls arrived in Cairo at the start of visits to three Arab nations aimed at boosting economic ties and holding talks on regional conflicts, and met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Guinea holds tense vote despite oppon mistrust
AFP, Conakry
Guinea headed to the polls to choose their president Sunday, as a last-minute opposition appeal for the country’s six million voters to participate added the latest twist to a campaign wrought with accusations and violence.
Guinea’s opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo urged voters to make their voices heard at the ballot box after his calls for a delay of “imperfect” polls fell on deaf ears.
