ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Ten ‘gang’ suspects arrested in schoolgirl’s 2012 shooting

Nearly two years after a gunman shot Malala Yousafzai in the head as she sat on her school bus, Pakistani authorities announced Friday they have arrested 10 individuals suspected of carrying out the attempted assassination in northwest Pakistan.

Yousafzai, who was 14 at the time and survived the attack, was shot along with two classmates for supporting public education for girls in her hometown in the Swat Valley. The crime horrified the world, drawing attention to the rise of Islamist militancy in Pakistan as well as the struggles facing women there.

During a rare news conference, Pakistan army spokesman Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said the suspects were apprehended as part of a wide-ranging, ongoing military operation against terrorists in northwestern Pakistan. He referred to the group as a “gang” that took orders from Mullah Fazlullah, a key Pakistani Taliban commander who last year became the leader of the militant group.

Fazlullah, who is believed to reside in Afghanistan and remains at-large, has long been suspected of planning the Oct. 9, 2012, attack on Yousafzai.

GUEN, Central African Republic

Sectarian violence toll tops 5,000 as U.N. increases role

More than 5,000 people have died in sectarian violence in Central African Republic since December, according to an Associated Press tally, suggesting that a U.N. peacekeeping mission approved months ago is coming too late for thousands.

The AP found at least 5,186 people were killed in fighting between Muslims and Christians, based on a count of bodies and numbers gathered from survivors, priests, imams and aid workers in more than 50 of the hardest-hit communities.

That’s more than double the death toll of at least 2,000 cited by the United Nations in April.

U.N. peacekeepers prepare to take over from African forces on Monday, bringing about 2,000 extra troops to the country.

DONETSK, Ukraine

Forces exchange prisoners as part of cease-fire deal

Government and rebel forces early Friday exchanged dozens of prisoners captured during fighting in Ukraine, as part of a cease-fire agreement sealed earlier this month.

The transfer took place in the dark outside the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk under the watch of international observers.

Thirty-six Ukrainian servicemen were released after negotiations and a further 21 soldiers were freed the day before, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

Ukrainian forces handed over 31 pro-Russian rebels detained over the course of the five-month conflict.

A cease-fire between separatists and the Ukrainian military took effect last Friday but has already been serially violated. Shortly after the prisoner exchange, a volley of rocket fire was heard from central Donetsk.

– From news service reports