Bomber strikes

KABUL: A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed five civilians on Monday when he drove into the centre of an eastern Afghan city and set off his explosives. It was unclear who the bomber was targeting when he detonated his bomb in front of Khost city’s electric power headquarters, said Tahir Khan Sabari, the deputy governor of Khost province. No military or police were nearby, Sabari said. Another 30 people in the area were wounded. In southern Kandahar province, meanwhile, another suicide bomber killed three Afghan soldiers in an attack on a convoy of troops inspecting a highway bridge for explosives. The attacker drove a car into the convoy and it exploded, said Zadi district Police Chief Niaz Mohammad Serhadi. — AP

Iraq unrest: 15 killed

BAGHDAD: Fifteen people, three of them Iraqi soldiers, were killed and 63 wounded in a spate of attacks across Iraq on Monday, security and hospital officials said, days before US troops must leave Iraq’s cities. In Baghdad’s sprawling Shiite slum neighbourhood of Sadr City, a roadside bomb hit a minibus, killing three university students who were on their way to sit their final exams. Twelve other students and the minibus driver were wounded in the morning rush-hour attack. In Diyala province, one of Iraq’s most dangerous, three soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb that struck their patrol east of the provincial capital Baquba and destroyed their Humvee, a military official said. — AFP

US-China talks

BEIJING: A US Defence Department official is headed to Beijing for talks amid ongoing tensions in the region over North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs.Defence Undersecretary Michele Flournoy will lead the US delegation for the US-China Defence Consultative Talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, the US Embassy said, without providing information on the agenda. Flournoy was due to travel onward to South Korea for talks with officials in Seoul on Friday. China is North Korea’s most important ally and supplier of economic assistance. It played host to six-nation talks aimed at pressing the North to halt its nuclear programs in return for financial aid and diplomatic inducements. — AP

Offer turned down

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s opposition on Monday rejected an offer by the ruling National Front coalition to form a partnership to run the country. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling party has been wooing the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in a bid to split Pakatan Rakyat, the broad opposition alliance led by former prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. “The Pakatan Rakyat council of leaders reaffirm our rejection of the idea of forming a unity government with UMNO,” Anwar told reporters. — AFP