Mali forces backed by French troops are advancing towards the northern key town of Timbuktu after seizing the rebel stronghold of Gao, French officials have said.

At least 21 policemen were killed and 18 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in two separate suicide attacks Saturday in a crowded area of the northeast Afghan city of Kunduz and southern Kandahar city, provincial authorities said.

French and Malian troops have entered the key central Malian towns of Diabaly and Doutenza, both of which have been in the hands of al-Qaeda-linked rebels for weeks.

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Kabul traffic police on Monday, local officials said, in the second coordinated attack on a government building in less than a week.

A fire broke out in a plaza on Abbot road near Lahore’s Lakshmi chowk in the early hours of Sunday killing six people including a child,  whereas officials reported rescuing 43 victims who were trapped in the fire, DawnNews reported.

The hostage crisis in Algeria had been ended by the Algerian military with loss of life, according to Philip Hammond, UK defence secretary. At least seven captives were reported to have been killed and 16 foreign hostages freed after the Algerian military stormed a gas installation in the desert where they were being held by […]

As French troops continue their airstrikes against Islamist rebels in northern Mali, bearded Muslims in the Malian Capital are falling prey to paranoia, with police forces arresting anyone who might look like Islamists.

The world’s largest Muslim group called Tuesday, January 15, for a ceasefire in Mali, where French troops intervened to fight Islamists in the north of the African country.

Pakistani security forces fired in the air and used tear gas in the capital Islamabad on Tuesday to disperse supporters of a cleric who called for mass rallies against the government.

The Pakistani Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of Raja Pervez Ashraf, the country’s prime minister, in connection with a corruption case, officials say.