The world in brief

Saturday, February 9, 2013

— QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Any attempt by the rebels to advance into central Damascus would mean the beginning of a very long fight.”

Syrian activist Rami Jarrah Article, 1A

Afghan war force rejects toll for kids

KABUL - The U.S.-led international coalition on Friday rejected a United Nations rights group’s concern about reports that U.S.

military strikes have killed hundreds of children in Afghanistan during the past four years, saying they are “categorically unfounded.”

The statement by the International Security Assistance Force came a day after the Geneva-based U.N.

Committee on the Rights of the Child said the casualties were “due notably to reported lack of precautionary measures and indiscriminate use of force.”

The coalition also dismissed that claim, saying that it takes special care to avoid civilian casualties. The coalition said the number of children who died or were wounded from air operations dropped by nearly 40 percent in 2012 compared with the year before, although it did not give specific figures.

Bangladesh ferry, ship collide; 2 die

DHAKA, Bangladesh - At least two people died and dozens were rescued after a passenger ferry collided with another ship and capsized Friday on a river in central Bangladesh, dumping as many as 100 people into the water, officials and witnesses said.

Police said the ferry went down on the River Meghna in Munshiganj district, 20 miles south of the capital, Dhaka.

By Friday evening, rescuers had recovered the bodies of a child and a woman.

There was confusion over the number of passengers on board the ferry at the time of the accident. Relatives and neighbors at the scene said some people were missing, but authorities would not provide an official list of those who were unaccounted for.

The private television station Channel-I said local villagers rescued more than 40 people after the accident, and that several other people swam to shore.

The station put the number of passengers at more than 100, though a local police official said it was about 80.

Badiuzzaman Badal, president of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport and Passenger Service, said the ferry was carrying just over 50 passengers.

Mali forces deal with mutinous unit

BAMAKO, Mali - Malian government forces clashed with mutinous soldiers in the capital, Bamako, on Friday, in violence that killed one person.

The clashes at a paratrooper base west of Bamako were a result of tensions between government soldiers, known as “green berets,” and “red beret” paratroopers loyal to former President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was deposed in a 2012 coup.

Government forces surrounded the paratrooper base and sealed it off, a military official said. One person was killed, Malian military officials said.

“Red berets fired shots at the families of the green berets, who retaliated by setting alight one of their vehicles,” witness Daouda Maiga told the German news agency DPA. “Some of the red berets were angry about orders that came from a commander, who wanted them to be reassigned to the green battalion.”

Earlier, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Malian army checkpoint in the northern city of Gao, causing no other casualties, officials said.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 02/09/2013