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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David Byrd reporting. Brussels is on high alert after fears of a Paris-like attack.
Heavily armed security forces patrolled the streets and subways were closed in Belgium's capital on Saturday as the government warned of a risk of attacks similar to the one that left 130 people dead in Paris. Prime Minister Charles Michel said the alert level was raised to its highest based on what he called "precise information" that authorities obtained. Didier Reynders is Belgium's foreign minister. "That's the reason why we have taken new measures to organize security of the country, to organize maybe some precise measures for the transportation system like subway and buses." The principal suspect in the Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, is still on the loose. Belgian authorities are concerned that he could be planning an attack in Brussels. U.S. President Barack Obama condemned what he called the "appalling" terrorist attack, that is, at a hotel in Bamako, Mali, that left 21 people dead Friday. Speaking at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, Obama said the assault in Bamako will only stiffen U.S. resolve to combat terrorism. "Like the heinous attacks we saw in Paris and attacks we see all too often elsewhere, this is another awful reminder that the scourge of terrorism threatens so many of our nations. And once again, this barbarity only stiffens our resolve to meet this challenge." Two West African militant groups, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliate El Mourabitoune, have claimed joint responsibility for the attack. A U.S. defense official called al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb the leading suspect. This is VOA news. Security sources in Cameroon say at least 10 people were killed in a suicide bombing carried out by suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Saturday's blast in the far northern region of Cameroon marked the latest deadly attack by Boko Haram, which has targeted Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria in recent months. Boko Haram's bloody campaign for a strict Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria has left thousands of people dead. Neighboring countries such as Cameroon joined an offensive against the group earlier this year, and the conflict has spilled across their borders. Israeli police say a stabbing attack in southern Israel wounded four people, the latest incident in a wave of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. The stabbing occurred in the city of Kiryat Gat. Police were still searching for at least one attacker who fled the scene. The recent violence has left 15 Israelis and at least 86 Palestinians dead. It began in September when rumors swept through Palestinian neighborhoods that Israel was planning to take over the East Jerusalem holy site known to Muslims as the al-Aqsa Mosque and to Jews as the Temple Mount. Israeli-Palestinian tensions are sure to be on Secretary of State John Kerry's agenda when he travels to the Middle East Sunday. The trip will focus also on the Islamic State group and the conflict in Syria. Kerry plans stops in Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates during his three-day visit. While in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah, the secretary will discuss bilateral and regional security issues, including Syria and the Islamic State. He will also discuss bilateral and regional political insecurity issues during a stop in Abu Dhabi. Bangladesh has executed two influential opposition leaders for war crimes committed during the country's 1971 war for independence against Pakistan. Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary-General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid were hanged in Dhaka Central Jail early Saturday. A special tribunal had convicted the two men in 2013 on charges including rape, genocide and torture during the 1971 war. The Bangladesh Supreme Court had rejected their appeals against their death sentences. U.S. lawmakers and human rights groups have said the tribunal proceedings were fraud. And police in southern Honduras have arrested two Pakistani men and a Syrian woman, accusing them of being in the country illegally and possibly trying to get to the United States. For more on these stories, visit our website. I'm David Byrd in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |