KABUL: Afghan villagers told a public health official Monday that a NATO air strike killed six civilians in a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, but the military alliance said four to eight militants were killed. Thirty others died in a spate of violence around the country. Four people were wounded in the air strike, including one woman, and had been taken to a hospital in Asadabad, the capital of Kunarprovince, said Asadullah Fazli, Kunar's chief of public health. Fazli said that villagers from Wata Pur district told him that six civilians died during the air strike, and that three houses were destroyed. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that ``four to eight'' enemy fighters were killed and that intelligence intercepts indicated ``the hostile intent of the enemy to attack ISAF posts.'' Still, a spokesman said it was possible civilians were wounded.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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