ISLAMABAD—Heavy fighting raged near Kunduz City Airport Tuesday as Afghanistan national security forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, engaged in a counteroffensive to wrest control of the northern city, taken by the Taliban the day before. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and residents in Kunduz told VOA that heavy fighting began near the airport late on Tuesday […]
France says it has launched its first air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, on targets it identified after two weeks of surveillance flights. French President Francois Hollande told reporters at the United Nations that six jet fighters hit an Islamic State training camp near the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor. Prime Minister […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Monday with U.S. President Barack Obama in New York, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday. Peskov told journalists in Russia’s Rostov region that Putin will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and then later in the day with the president. The three leaders are among the many who […]
CAIRO—A stampede on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia left at least 717 people dead and more than 800 injured, in the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Saudi officials say the incident occurred Thursday in Mina where pilgrims throw rocks at pillars representing the […]