France: Hostage dead in rescue attempt in Somalia

PARIS (AP) — A French commando raid to free an intelligence agent held captive for three years ended in the deaths of the hostage and a French soldier, the French military said Saturday. But the man's Islamist kidnappers said the hostage was alive and that a French soldier had been captured as well.Confusion surrounded early reports of the botched rescue of the agent, known by his code-name Denis...

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Commando killed in raid to free hostage in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A French commando raid in Somalia to free a captive intelligence agent ended in the deaths of 17 Islamists and a French soldier. France said the hostage also died in the failed rescue, but the man's captors denied he had been killed and claimed Saturday to have seized a second soldier.Confusion surrounded early reports of the botched rescue of the French agent, known by...

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Red Cross: 200 dead from violence in Kenya's south

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenya Red Cross says at least 200 people have been killed in violence in Kenya's southeast since August in fighting that could be related to political tensions ahead of March elections.Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet said Saturday that in the past there had been skirmishes between the semi-nomadic Orma and the farming Pokomo communities in the Tana Delta over resources,...

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