In Short

A round-up of other world news in brief

Pakistan airstrike kills 27 militants

PESHAWAR - A Pakistani air strike killed 27 Taliban militants in a northwestern tribal region on Saturday, a paramilitary spokesman said.

The raid on militant hideouts in Orakzai tribal region came two days after a suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives at a tribal council meeting, killing more than 100 people. - (Reuters)

Lebanese army detains terrorists

BEIRUT - Lebanese security forces detained members of the terrorist cell behind recent bombings in northern Lebanon that killed 22 people, the army said.

A security source said four Islamist militants were captured near the Palestinian Bidawi refugee camp just north of the port city of Tripoli, where two bombings in August and September killed 15 soldiers and seven civilians. - (Reuters)

Turkey launches strike on PKK

ANKARA - Turkey's military said it launched an airstrike against a group of Kurdish separatist PKK rebels in northern Iraq yesterday.

The military said this is the seventh time it attacked the rebels in northern Iraq since they killed 17 Turkish soldiers in an attack eight days ago. - (Reuters)

Eleven killed in Darfur battle

KHARTOUM - Armed militias ambushed a band of rebel fighters in south Darfur, sparking a gun battle that left at least 11 dead yesterday.

The reports of fresh fighting in Darfur came at a sensitive time for Khartoum which has been stepping up diplomatic efforts to block a move by the International Criminal Court to indict Sudan's president for war crimes. - (Reuters)

Pirate dies in Somali shoot-out

BOSASSO, Somalia - Security forces from northern Somalia killed a pirate and wounded two others during a shoot-out with hijackers aboard a Panama-flagged ship yesterday. One soldier was killed.

Coastguard personnel exchanged fire with pirates on the ship, which was seized on Thursday. - (Reuters)

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times