WORLD IN BRIEF
WORLD IN BRIEF
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CAMEROON
Negotiations Sought After Deadly Riots
Authorities in the central African country of Cameroon appealed Thursday for negotiations to defuse the worst anti-government riots in more than a decade, but an opposition leader said President Paul Biya was out of touch after 25 years in power.
Officials estimated that as many as 20 people had been killed in nearly a week of protests in several cities, including the main port of Douala and the capital, Yaounde, over high fuel and food prices and an effort by Biya to prolong his tenure in office.
Douala and Yaounde, which were paralyzed by rioting and looting Wednesday, were tense but relatively calm Thursday. Police and soldiers patrolled the streets, but most businesses were closed and public transport was not operating.
AFGHANISTAN
Poppy Eradication Team Ambushed
A newly freed hostage said Thursday that leftist rebels confiscated letters written by three U.S. military contractors
Insurgents ambushed an opium poppy eradication force in southern Afghanistan, sparking clashes that left 25 Taliban fighters and a policeman dead, police said Thursday. Four other guerrillas died in a separate incident when a bomb exploded.
The ambush took place Wednesday in the Marja district of Helmand province, killing one police officer and wounding two, said Gen. Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, the provincial police chief. Police attacked the guerrillas afterward, killing 25 Taliban fighters, including a senior regional militant commander, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Helmand is the world's largest opium-producing region. Officials estimate that up to 40 percent of the proceeds from Afghanistan's drug trade is used to fund the insurgency.
Ministry Disputes U.S. Official's Contention
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry on Thursday denied an assertion by the top U.S. intelligence official that less than a third of the country is under the control of President Hamid Karzai's government.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told a Senate committee in Washington on Wednesday that Afghanistan's central government controls just 30 percent of the country. He said the Taliban controls about 10 percent and local tribes control the rest.
"This is far from the facts, and we completely deny it," the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement. The ministry has previously said that several districts in the southern province of Helmand are not controlled by the government.
