News In Brief
AFP, Dakar
Faced with a growing jihadist threat, West African nations are scrambling to boost security but are seeing visitor numbers fall as foreign governments warn their nationals about the risks.
“The alert is being taken very seriously,” said a Senegalese security source after police carried out a weekend of security operations in a bid to tackle the “terrorist threat”.
Some 900 people were detained, mainly for security checks.
IAF shoots down ‘suspicious object’
Dawn.com, New Delhi
A Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) shot down on Tuesday a balloon-like suspicious object in Rajasthan, sources said.
IAF officials said the object was flying in from the western sector (implying Pakistani side) and was shot down on Tuesday morning.
40 bodies found in Iraq mass grave
AP, Baghdad
Iraqi forces have found more than 40 bodies, including those of women and children, in a mass grave in the city of Ramadi west of Baghdad, which they recently retook from ISIS militants, officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan said the grave in central Ramadi contained the bodies of civilians as well as police. Video footage from the site shows local security forces and a small forensics team wearing face masks and digging with shovels.
Death toll in US
blizzard reaches 48
AP, Washington
The death toll from the massive blizzard that battered the US East Coast over the weekend has climbed to 48, the media reported on Tuesday.
Most of the deaths happened in road accidents as vehicles slipped on frozen roads. Some also died while shovelling the snow.
The US capital remained shut on Tuesday as well after the federal government once again asked employees to stay at home.
