15 hurt in blasts, fight

BANGKOK: At least 15 railway workers, soldiers and police were injured in two bomb blasts and an hour-long gun battle in Thailand’s restive south early on Sunday, in an attack which police blamed on Islamic insurgents. Two bombs exploded around 6:15 am, 30 metres from the Sungai Padi railway station in Narathiwat province, as a maintenance train car was travelling from Sungai Kolok to Tanyong, police and railway officials said. — AFP

Four Maoists killed

NEW DELHI: Four Maoist guerrillas including a senior leader were killed in a gun battle with police on Sunday in the Indian state of Andra Pradesh, officials said. The guerrillas were gunned down at Kambalpalli village in Warangal after a call by police to surrender sparked a firefight, the PTI quoted officials as saying. The rebels belonged to the Praja Pratighatna (People’s Representative) group, they said, adding its top leader was among the dead. Arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain rebels. — AFP

2 J&K ultras gunned down

SRINAGAR: Indian troops overnight shot dead two senior commanders of a dominant rebel group in Kashmir, a police spokesman said on Sunday. He said Ghulam Mohammed Malik and Mohammed Ashraf Padder were shot dead in separate clashes in Kupwara and Anantnag districts. “Both were senior commanders of Hizbul Mujahedin and were on the security force list of most wanted militants,” police said. — AFP

Hong Kong man held

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong man was arrested and checked for mental illness after he emptied his 35th-floor apartment by dropping its contents from the window, police and media said on Sunday. No one was reported injured by the falling objects. The Apple Daily newspaper said the man was upset because he had broken up with his girlfriend. “He tossed whatever was in his apartment,” said police spokesman Edwin Hung. By the time he was done, all that was left inside was his air conditioner, refrigerator, washer and large pieces of furniture, the Apple Daily said. — AP

Quake rattles Indonesia

HONG KONG: A magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia, the Hong Kong Observatory said on Sunday. The tremor, centered in the Banda Sea was recorded in Hong Kong at 1547 GMT on Saturday, the observatory said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately if the quake led to any casualties or damage. — AP