Briefly

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

2 missiles intercepted above Abu Dhabi

The military intercepted two ballistic missiles claimed by Yemen's Houthi militias over the skies of Abu Dhabi early on Monday, authorities said, the second attack in a week that targeted the Emirati capital. The missile fire further escalated tensions across the Persian Gulf. US troops at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the capital took shelter in bunkers there during the attack. The state-run WAM news agency said that missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi.

SYRIA

City besieged as prison battle toll tops 150

Kurdish forces locked down a northeastern city on Monday to trap Islamic State group fighters who attacked a prison there five days earlier, leaving more than 150 dead in fierce battles. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces charged that the IS extremists were using hundreds of minors as "human shields "inside the Ghwayran prison in Hasakeh. The UN's agency for children UNICEF called for the protection of 850 minors detained inside the jail, some as young as 12, warning that they could be "harmed or forcibly recruited" by the IS. More than 100 IS fighters late on Thursday stormed the prison using suicide truck bombs and heavy weapons, setting off days of clashes both inside the facility and in surrounding neighborhoods.

CAMEROON

17 dead in nightclub blaze in capital

A fire erupted at a popular nightclub in the Cameroon capital of Yaounde, setting off explosions that killed at least 17 people and seriously injured seven others, government officials said Sunday. The tragedy comes as the central African country hosts thousands of soccer players, fans and officials from across the continent for the monthlong African Cup of Nations soccer tournament.

Agencies - Xinhua