Airstrikes kill nine civilians
Airstrikes by NATO helicopters hunting Taliban fighters ripped through three dried mud homes in southern Afghanistan as villagers slept early Wednesday. At least nine civilians were killed, including women and children, said residents and the provincial governor.
Shellshocked, angry villagers in Ashogho condemned the attack, which set back NATO’s hopes of winning local support for their tough counterinsurgency campaign.
Kandahar provincial Gov. Asadullah Khalid said it appeared that no Taliban fighters were in the village at the time of the airstrikes, which left giant pieces of mud packed with straw scattered along Ashogho’s narrow lane.
Moscow
Dozens of NGOs face suspension
Dozens of foreign nongovernmental organizations in Russia, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, faced suspension Wednesday after failing to obtain necessary permits required under a tough new law.
The law allows authorities to ban financing of specific NGOs if they are judged to threaten the country’s national security or “morals” and to require foreign and domestic organizations to report in detail how much money they have received and from whom.
It also required foreign NGOs to reregister with the Justice Ministry by Wednesday or temporarily suspend their work in Russia. Critics have accused the Kremlin of passing the law in an effort to stem dissent.
Santiago, Chile
Students demand faster reforms
Police used water cannons to disperse hundreds of high school students who took to the streets Wednesday demanding that President Michelle Bachelet speed up promised reforms to Chile’s dictatorship-era education law.
High school students declared a one-day national strike and marched toward an Education Ministry office but were repeatedly blocked by police. The marchers fought running battles with the officers, throwing rocks that damaged several vehicles.
Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe said 114 students were detained. In previous clashes, most of those detained were quickly released after police confirmed their identities.
The strike appeared to have ample support Wednesday, but the protests were smaller and less organized than those in May and June that shook Bachelet’s leftist government.
Gaza City, Gaza Strip
Israeli troops enter border town
For the first time since its pullout from Gaza a year ago, Israeli tanks and infantry took up positions on the Egypt-Gaza border Wednesday, killing two Palestinian gunmen as the army broadened its search for arms smuggling tunnels.
Palestinian security officials said Israeli troops and tanks moved into the border town of Rafah before dawn Wednesday and took over a section of the frontier, including the area around the Rafah border terminal.
The army said Israeli forces were pressing an operation aimed at uncovering tunnels used by Palestinian militants to smuggle weapons from Egypt. The army said Wednesday it has uncovered five tunnels so far.