Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 27
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan said Sunday it has closed its consulate in Afghanistan's city of Mazar-e-Sharif after a woman tried to take a hand grenade inside the building.
Pakistan urged the Afghan government to ensure security of Pakistan's diplomatic mission in Mazar-e-Sharif, Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement. (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Consulate)
- - - -
MANILA -- Twenty people were killed and 111 others wounded on Sunday as two blasts went off inside and near the entrance of a Roman Catholic church on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police said.
"Hopefully the number of those killed in the incident will stop at 20," Police Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares, Philippine National Police (PNP) director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, told Xinhua over phone. (Philippines-Church-Blast)
- - - -
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan -- The Afghan security forces stormed a Taliban bastion in northern Kunduz province on Sunday, triggering heavy fighting, a security official said.
The official on the condition of anonymity said that the government forces attacked the bastion in Jangle Bashi area of Khan Abad district at 2:00 a.m. local time Sunday and so far four insurgents have been killed and five others arrested. (Afghanistan-Taliban)
- - - -
JAKARTA -- The death toll from floods, landslides and whirlwind in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province climbed to 68 on Sunday with the number of evacuees reaching 6,757, disaster agency official said.
Evacuation of the victims and search for seven missing people continued, although the floodwater triggered by torrential rains which resulted in a dam burst on Tuesday has receded, spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. (Indonesia-Flood)
- - - -
JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- Eight militants affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group were confirmed dead in air raids in the eastern Nangarhar province on Saturday, the Afghan army said on Sunday.
According to a statement released by the army, the sorties were conducted against IS hideouts in Shagai area of Achin district on Saturday afternoon, killing eight insurgents on the spot and destroying their trenches. (Afghanistan-IS) Enditem
