11 killed in landslide

SHANGHAI: Eleven people were killed and five injured after heavy rainstroms caused a large landslide in China’s southwestern Guizhou province, state press reported on Tuesday. The pre-dawn landslip on Sunday hit an outlying village in Shuicheng county, destroying three houses and burying its inhabitants, Xinhua said. In a separate landslide in Sichuan province, at least three people were killed and four hurt when a four-storey residential building collapsed in Chongqing municipality on Monday. — AFP

City police chief killed

PESHAWAR: A bomb planted under an Afghan police chief’s chair exploded on Tuesday, killing him and wounding two government officials in his office, doctors and an official said. Assailants put the bomb in the office of Jalalabad police chief Haji Ajab Shah, said Gen Mohammed Younis Noorzai, provincial police chief in Nangarhar province. “The moment he sat on his seat, the bomb exploded,” Noorzai told AP. Noorzai said it was possible the bomb was planted by Taliban or Al Qaeda rebels, but didn’t offer any evidence. — AP

Chinese shrine ransacked

BANGKOK: Suspected Islamic insurgents on Tuesday ransacked a popular Chinese Buddhist shrine next to a mosque in southern Thailand where 32 militants were massacred in April, police said. Separately, a shopkeeper was shot dead in the south. Also on Tuesday, a Web site claiming to be that of Muslim separatist group said it was ready for war after the government cancelled peace talks with a rebel leader. The shrine attack appeared to be part of a new strategy to create sectarian strife. — AP

US, S’pore naval games

SINGAPORE: The US and Singapore navies began a 10-day joint training exercise on Tuesday, days before US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld unveils Washington’s latest Southeast Asian security strategy. About 1,500 troops, 12 ships and a submarine are taking part in the 10th Co-operation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise, or CARAT, said a joint statement from the Pentagon and Singapore’s Defence Ministry. A number of aircraft are also expected to participate. — AP

6 Taliban men killed

KANDAHAR: US troops shot dead six Taliban fighters holed up in an orchard in same area of southeastern Afghanistan where a mine killed four American special forces soldiers, an Afghan military official said. American soldiers encircled the six gunmen on Sunday in Kalandar Khiel village, provincial commander Naimatullah Khan said. “When the Taliban saw them, they opened fire,” igniting a 15-minute gunbattle, Khan said. “They were all killed, while US forces suffered no casualties.” — AP

Bangla govt flayed

DHAKA: Bangladeshi human rights activists on Tuesday criticised the government for failing to arrest Islamic vigilantes accused of torturing villagers and forcing women to wear veils. Jagrata Muslim Janata - Vigilant Muslim Citizens - has been active in northwestern Bangladesh and has been fighting outlawed Maoist rebels operating in the impoverished region. “The activity of the vigilante group is akin to that of the Taliban, but the government is doing nothing to stop them,” said Ayesha Khanam, general secretary of Bangladesh Mahila

Parishad. — AP

China stops SARS reports

BEIJING: China’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday it would stop its daily SARS report, declaring the disease under control more than a week after the last patient in the latest outbreak was discharged from a Beijing hospital. “Our country’s SARS outbreak this spring has been effectively controlled,” the ministry said on its Web site. It said the ministry would continue to monitor conditions and issue a monthly report. — AP