War & Terrorism

Seven Egyptian soldiers were released onr week after being captured in the Sinai Peninsula by suspected jihadists, state-run television said Wednesday.

Army spokesman Ahmed Mohammed said the release was made possible by "efforts made by the Egyptian military intelligence service and tribal leaders" in Sinai, dpa reported.

The fate of the kidnappers themselves was not clear.

They were reportedly jihadists in Sinai seeking the release of imprisoned relatives or associates.

Twelve people died and at least 13 were missing Monday after a blast ripped through an explosives workshop in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, dpa reported according to state media.

The explosion scattered rubble up to 200 metres away, killing at least a dozen people at the factory owned by the Poly Explosives (Jinan) Company in Shandong's Caofan township, the semi-official China News Service reported.

Earlier reports said firefighters had rescued nine workers and recovered five bodies.

Two car bombs exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, killing at least 13 people and injuring 25, security officials and medics said, dpa reported.

One of the cars went off in a busy street in the majority Shiite city and the other targeted a parking lot.

In central Iraq, the bodies of 14 people kidnapped in Anbar province were found.

A rise in attacks in recent months has raised fears of a return to the kind of sectarian violence that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

A bomb rocked the Afghan capital early Thursday, targeting a foreign military convoy, an Afghan policeman said, dpa reported.

A NATO official confirmed the explosion, but not the target of the attack.

"We are still gathering more facts and will release information as soon as possible," he said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.