Lanka Army claims more rebel areas

Colombo: Sri Lankan soldiers captured and destroyed more Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers in fierce fighting across the embattled northern region, the military said. The new fighting came as soldiers are reportedly closing in on the rebels’ administrative capital of Kilinochchi in a campaign aimed at routing the rebels and ending a 25-year-old war. In the latest fighting on Sunday, the Army captured and destroyed several rebel bunkers. —AP

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Kidnapped Afghanistan leader found

Kabul: A one-time Afghan presidential candidate and relative of the late king was rescued on Monday with the son of a prominent Kabul banker from a well where they had been held by kidnappers, an official said. Royalist politician Humayun Shah Asifi was kidnapped in the city nearly a week ago and the banker’s son Abdul Latif was taken a few days earlier, in some of the latest in a rash of criminal abductions in the capital. They were found together in a one-by-two metre hole dug at the end of a five-metre well on the northeastern edges of the city. —AFP

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10 Hindraf leaders freed on bail

Putrajaya, Malaysia: The 10 leaders of the banned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), who were arrested outside the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, were released on bail on Sunday afternoon. Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Wira Mohammed Sabtu Osman confirmed that the eight men and two women were released on bail and that now they were required to report on November 25.

About 50 supporters and family members had gathered outside the police headquarters early Sunday morning. —ANI

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Thai denies damaging temple

Bangkok: Thailand’s foreign ministry denied Cambodian claims that Thai soldiers had damaged the ancient Preah Vihear temple with rocket fire during a border shootout in early October. In a statement, the ministry said Thai soldiers had only fired rifles, and instead accused Cambodian troops of using rockets during the clashes on October 15. "In accordance with strict orders, Thai troops have not used heavy firearms or rocket launchers near the temple of Pra Viharn and never fired at the temple," the statement said. —AFP

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US soldier killed in Kabul blast

Kabul: A suicide bomber wearing a police uniform blew himself up inside a police station in northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing an American soldier and wounding six other people, Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The bomber entered a police station in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, while Afghan officials were meeting with US troops advising a police training programme, provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Sayed Kheil said.

The blast killed an American soldier and wounded two others.

—AP