PAKISTAN
Drone airstrike kills nine
Suspected American drones fired several missiles into three militant hideouts near the Afghan border on Sunday, killing nine Pakistani Taliban fighters, intelligence officials said. The strikes targeted the group’s hideouts in the South Waziristan tribal region, the officials said. The identity of the killed militants was not immediately known, they said, but two important commanders of the Pakistani Taliban — including the head of a training unit for suicide bombers — may be among them. Sunday’s drone attack was the third suspected U.S. drone strike in five days. One such hit late Wednesday night killed a top Pakistani militant commander, Maulvi Nazir. That attack was followed by a strike Thursday in the North Waziristan tribal area.
AFGHANISTAN
Bombings kill at least 5
Two suicide bombers attacked a community meeting Sunday in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing at least five people and injuring 15, local authorities said. The attack happened in Spin Boldak, a district on the Pakistan border that is considered an important smuggling route for drugs, weapons and militants.
EGYPT
Cabinet ministers sworn
Egypt swore in 10 new ministers on Sunday in a Cabinet shake-up aimed at improving the government’s handling of the country’s ailing economy ahead of talks this week with the International Monetary Fund over a badly needed $4.8 billion loan. President Mohammed Morsi had promised the reshuffle in response to public anger over Egypt’s economic malaise.
VENEZUELA
Searchers scan for plane
The search for a plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five other people entered its third day Sunday with no signs of the aircraft. Venezuela’s government said authorities would not call off the search involving the National Civil Aviation Institute, Coast Guard and Navy until they find the plane that disappeared off the coast and all of those who were on board.
Compiled from wire reports.
