KANO - Gunmen with explosives attacked a police station, a primary school and two cellphone towers in the town of Fika in Nigeria's restive northeast early yesterday and set them ablaze. A man said he had seen the bodies of two policemen being brought out of the razed police station. Lazarus Eli, military spokesman in Yobe state, said troops had been deployed to the town to contain the violence. Fika is 170 kilometres from Damaturu, the capital of Yobe, and a hotbed of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. AFP
BEIRUT - French President Francois Hollande, on a brief visit to Beirut, pledged support for Lebanon against threats of destabilisation caused by the deadly conflict in neighbouring Syria. "France will spare no effort to guarantee Lebanon's independence, unity and security," Hollande said at a joint news conference with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman. Lebanon has been reeling from the effects of the deadly conflict that has shaken Syria since March last year. Hollande was due later to visit Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah on Syria and Iran. AFP
NAIROBI - A grenade attack on an interdenominational church killed one policeman and wounded 14 people in an eastern Kenyan town near the Somalia border where 18 people were killed in similar attacks in July. The pastor is believed to have been among the victims. Three of the wounded were said to be in critical condition. Kenya has seen a wave of grenade attacks on its cities, including in the capital, Nairobi, and in the key port of Mombasa, since the country sent troops into Somalia last October to fight al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab insurgents. AFP
10 die as raft full of migrants sinks