Daily News Channel
Somalia’s hard-line Islamic group Al-Shabab seized control of Jowhar, the president’s hometown, after a battle with pro-government forces Sunday. Jowhar is a major town 55 miles (88 kilometers) southeast of Mogadishu, the capital. “All businesses are closed and residents are already fleeing while Al-Shabab are roaming the streets,” a local journalist said.
Clashes between Somalia’s transitional government and the Al-Shabab militia left 103 people dead and 420 others wounded, Somali officials said Friday. The fighting in Mogadishu between the rebel group and the government has raged for nine days, said Farhan Ali Mohamud, information minister of the Somali government. The new round of fighting stems from an interpretation of sharia law, or Islamic law, the spokesman said
Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka were ready to accept international calls for a cease-fire but won’t lay down their weapons without a political solution in the quarter-century-long civil war, according to a letter released by the group. But no cease-fire offer is being offered as government troops press their offensive against Tamil forces and their remaining strongholds in northern Sri Lanka.
Military officials in Sri Lanka said they shot down a Tamil Tiger aircraft near the Colombo International Airport on Friday, in an air engagement with rebels that killed two people and left about 50 wounded.
India on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebels to "release" civilians, who it said numbered about 70,000 in Sri Lanka’s war zone. India is ready to help evacuate them, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Indian parliament. “Estimates on the number of civilians trapped vary, but 70,000 or so are estimated to be there now.