23 killed in attack by Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen assaulted a major army base in southern Helmand province early Friday, killing 23 Afghan security personnel and 20 assailants as a new round of peace talks between U.S. officials and Taliban delegates in Qatar was underway.

There were no casualties among the U.S. advisory troops housed in the same base, officials said. Afghan forces battled insurgents, armed with grenade launchers, who penetrated the sprawling and heavily fortified joint base.

The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the group’s second assault on a major military target since peace talks began several months ago. In January, insurgents attacked an Afghan intelligence training compound, killing 26 people.

Siege ends in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Thirty-five people were dead and more than 80 wounded after an almost 24-hour siege came to an end Friday evening in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu, officials said.

The death toll included five of the al-Shabab militants behind the attack, police said. Al-Shabab is a group affiliated with the alQaida terrorist network.

When the attack started Thursday night, police said that a suicide bomber had been involved in detonating a truck and may have been targeting popular hotels frequented by politicians.

Chlorine use suspected

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The organization that serves as the global chemical weapons watchdog said Friday it found “reasonable grounds” that chlorine was used as a weapon in a deadly attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year.

The determination was contained in a detailed report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ factfinding mission that investigated the April 7, 2018, attack. Medical workers said at the time that the attack killed more than 40 people.

The mission’s mandate does not include placing blame.

Extradition approved

WASHINGTON — The Canadian government Friday said it would allow the extradition process against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, to begin.

Canada’s Justice Department issued an “authority to proceed” on the U.S. request for extradition. A court in British Columbia has scheduled Ms. Meng to appear on Wednesday.

The U.S. accuses her of defrauding financial institutions by concealing information about transactions with Iran.

Ebola clinics attacked

Armed assailants in Congo have attacked two Ebola clinics run by Doctors Without Borders in the past week, threatening an urgent response to the medical crisis and prompting the humanitarian group to suspend its operations in the epicenter of the outbreak.

At least 879 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in Congo in the past seven months, and 553 people have died of the virus.

President denounced

CAIRO — Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Algiers on Friday to denounce Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision to run for a fifth term.

It was the largest protest the Algerian capital had witnessed since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.