■AFGHANISTAN
Kidnapped man freed
A spy agency official said agents have freed a kidnapped man with dual German-Afghan nationality and arrested three kidnappers. Deputy head of the spy service Abdullah Laghmani said the man was freed from a house in the Bagram District of Parwan Province in a pre-dawn raid yesterday. Laghmani said the victim was kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in Kabul. The man is the owner of a popular wedding hall in the capital. Three kidnappers have been detained, the official said.
■NEPAL
Twin blasts injure six
Two bombings in Pokhara, a city popular with tourists, injured six people and sparked panic among residents, media reports said yesterday. The bombs went off within 20 minutes of each other late on Wednesday in the commercial district of the city about 180km west of Kathmandu, the Kantipur newspaper reported. The bombs were placed in public places within 0.5km of one another, the newspaper quoted police as saying. A child was among the injured in the blasts, which damaged a house in the city where tourists organize treks into the Annapurna mountains. The Terai Army, a group that says it is fighting for the Madhesi ethnic group’s right to self-determination, claimed responsibility for the blasts.
■PAKISTAN
Fighting leaves 27 dead
An attack on a military checkpoint by some 200 pro-Taliban militants triggered intense fighting that killed 25 insurgents and two paramilitary soldiers near the Afghan border, security officials said yesterday. The fighting broke out on Wednesday in Loi Sam village in the Bajur tribal region, two army officers and an area intelligence official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. The officials said they received reports from local authorities about the casualties. The local intelligence official said the militants used rockets and assault rifles in the attack.
■BANGLADESH
UN expert released
A lawyer who works as a human trafficking expert for the UN has been released on bail while she appeals a three-year jail sentence on extortion charges, a prison official said yesterday. The High Court granted her bail hs, said Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqui, the deputy inspector general of prisons. A trial court sentenced Huda to three years in jail last year on charges of helping her husband extort more than US$294,000 from a construction company while he was communications minister. Huda also faces four other cases involving charges of bribery, misuse of power and extortion. All are unrelated to her UN assignment. Her husband is serving a seven-year sentence on extortion charges.
■INDONESIA
Bird flu outbreak suspected
Thirteen people hospitalized with high fevers and respiratory problems are being treated as suspected bird flu patients after dozens of chickens died of the disease in their village, a health official said yesterday. Swab and blood samples have been taken, but it could be days before results come back, said Memed Zulkarnaen, spokesman for the National Bird Flu Commission, adding, however, that “their condition appears to be improving.” The 13 were admitted to two hospitals in the past week after chickens started dropping dead in Air Batu on Sumatra.
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