Briefly

IRAQ

6 rockets land near town in Kurdish region

Six rockets struck an area in Erbil Province in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region on Sunday, but caused no casualties, the regional Counter-Terrorism Service said in a statement. The rockets were fired from al-Hamdaniya, a town 60 kilometers west of the city of Erbil, and landed near the al-Zab River outside the Kurdish town of Khabat, the statement said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. On April 6, three rockets were also fired from the al-Hamdaniya area and hit an inhabited area near an oil installation in the Khabat area, which also caused no casualties.

JAPAN

Tour operator's office raided amid boat probe

Coastguard officials searched the office of a Japanese tour boat operator on Monday as part of a criminal investigation into suspicions that professional negligence caused the sinking of a vessel carrying 26 people last month. The Japanese coastguard said investigators were raiding unidentified locations related to the tour boat operator. The coastguard plans to use a remote-controlled submersible camera to look inside the sunken boat in hopes of finding bodies possibly trapped inside. The operation was delayed on Monday due to bad weather. The boat was carrying two crew members and 24 passengers, including two children, when it went under in a national park. Fourteen bodies have been recovered.

INDIA

Turbulence leaves 17 hurt on domestic flight

At least 14 passengers and three crew members were injured during massive midair turbulence that hit a flight in India late on Sunday, local media reported on Monday. The Boeing 737 was flying from India's financial center Mumbai to Durgapur in the eastern state of West Bengal when the incident occurred, according to a report by NDTV. The aircraft, operated by low-cost carrier SpiceJet, was carrying 188 passengers. The turbulence rocked the aircraft just before it landed at Durgapur. Luggage toppled from overhead compartments, injuring passengers.

Xinhua - Agencies