World
Syria
Airstrikes kill 12
BEIRUT — Airstrikes overnight in eastern Syria killed at least 12 pro-government fighters, all reportedly foreign nationals, a war-monitoring group said Thursday. The Syrian government-run media blamed the strikes on the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the war through a network of activists on the ground, said the fatalities were not Syrian nationals but foreign fighters. It said the coalition was likely behind the strikes.
Oman
Cyclone pounds island
SALALAH — Cyclone Mekunu roared over the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea on its way to Oman on Thursday, sending torrents of water rushing down streets and sinking at least two ships. At least 17 people were reported missing in the powerful storm.
Indian meteorologists expected the “very severe” cyclone to strike Oman on Saturday near Salalah, the sultanate’s third-largest city and home to some 200,000 people near the country’s border with Yemen.