MALI: Human Rights Watch said on Friday that Russian government-controlled Africa Corps aircraft killed eight civilians in an airstrike on a village in central Mali last month.

The rights group said an attack aircraft identified as a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 dropped two munitions on Kyrnia village in the Mopti region on June 15. One strike hit near the home of the village chief, killing his wife and three children. The second hit a nearby cattle market, killing four men.

PAKISTAN: Rescuers searching for 10 climbers missing after an avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak located four bodies on Friday and were continuing to search for the other six despite adverse weather that hampered helicopter flights, officials said.

Efforts were under way to retrieve the bodies of the four climbers despite the harsh weather, according to a senior government source. They did not immediately identify which bodies were found.

LIBERIA: Liberian law enforcement agents burned nearly 9,000 kilograms of cocaine worth about $336 million (£253m) on Thursday, days after authorities announced the country’s largest-ever drug seizure and implicated senior police officials in the trafficking operation.

Authorities said investigators identified senior officers, including the chief of the highway patrol, who had allegedly helped escort the cocaine after it arrived in Liberia.

NEPAL: Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah called for calm on Friday after clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in the country’s south have left at least three people dead.

Mr Shah, in his first major address to the nation since taking office in March, urged citizens to act responsibly and help “remove the clouds of unrest.”