KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

Insiders, insurgents poison, shoot six checkpoint police

An Afghan police officer and cook poisoned their colleagues at a checkpoint in an assault coordinated with insurgent fighters that left six dead in the country’s south, officials said Saturday.

It was the latest in a string of attacks from inside the Afghan army and police that are threatening to undermine both the partnership with international troops — which have been the target of many attacks — and the morale of Afghan forces, who have suffered equally heavy casualties from such strikes.

The police officer and the cook worked with outside insurgents in the assault, which hit police manning a checkpoint in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, the governor’s office said in a statement.

They poisoned two of the officers and then the militants attacked from outside, killing the remaining four officers, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zirak said. He did not say how the officers were poisoned. The police officer was captured as he fled, but the cook escaped and remains at large, Zirak added.

TRIPOLI, Libya

Gadhafi ex-aide reported captured by government

The Libyan government on Saturday announced the capture of Moammar Gadhafi’s ex-spokesman outside a besieged town as the oil-rich North African nation marked the anniversary of the ousted dictator’s death.

The statement by the prime minister’s office said Moussa Ibrahim, who became the international face of the regime in its final months, was captured as he was trying to flee Bani Walid. The town has been the site of fierce fighting between pro-government forces and fighters holed up in what was once a stronghold for Gadhafi supporters.

“He is now being transported to Tripoli so that the investigation by relevant authorities can begin,” the statement from the prime minister’s office said.

The statement did not say what charges Ibrahim would face, but Libyan officials in the past have suggested he might be accused of incitement and disseminating false information.

A Facebook page purporting to belong to Ibrahim denied the capture, saying it was an effort to divert attention away from the “atrocities” being committed by the Libyan forces besieging Bani Walid.

PARIS

Pilgrims flee floodwaters from heavy rains in Lourdes

Visitors to the Roman Catholic shrine in Lourdes found themselves forced to flee floodwaters in the southwestern French town Saturday.

Rescue teams helped hundreds of pilgrims escape waterlogged hotels after heavy rains led the Gave River to overrun its banks — and even wash up into the town’s famed grotto, where many Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to a 14-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

The regional government issued a statement late Saturday saying 427 people had been evacuated from their hotels and authorities warned of forecasts for more rain in the region.

— From news service reports