The world in brief

Post-bombing attack hits Nigerian camp

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- Boko Haram extremists attacked a refugee camp in northeast Nigeria just days after Nigeria's air force bombed it, witnesses said Friday, as reports emerged that the death toll from the bombing could be as high as 170.

More than 100 Boko Haram fighters launched the attack Thursday evening, and soldiers battled for hours trying to repel them, witnesses said. One witness said eight Boko Haram fighters were killed and one soldier was injured, though others said the toll was still being determined.

The witnesses, who included aid workers and camp residents, spoke on condition of anonymity because of safety fears.

On Tuesday, Nigeria's air force bombed the camp housing Boko Haram refugees multiple times. The remote camp is located in Rann in Borno state, near the border with Cameroon.

On Friday, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said "around 90" people were killed in the bombing but noted that residents and community leaders say the death toll could be as high as 170.

Satellite imagery from the bombing supports witness accounts that the camp was struck with "multiple air-dropped munitions" even though tents should have been easily visible, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The group has called for victims to be compensated.

Nigeria's air force has said a panel of senior officers will investigate.

The attack Thursday occurred as aid workers were trying to help bombing victims. The Red Cross said Friday that about 100 people had been evacuated from Rann to Maiduguri city for medical care.

Nigerian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mexico returns 91 at its border to Cuba

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico has returned to Cuba the first contingent of Cuban migrants since former U.S. president Barack Obama decided last week to end a U.S. policy of granting residency to Cubans who arrive on U.S. soil.

Mexico's National Immigration Institute said Friday it put 91 Cubans on a federal police airplane and flew them back to the island after the Cuban government accepted their return.

Mexico had long technically been able to deport Cubans, but the Cuban government usually refused to accept them.

The Mexican government had been granting Cubans 20-day transit visas to make it to the U.S. border.

All 20 Cuban women and 71 men had arrived at Mexico's southern border seeking such transit documents.

But Mexico will apparently no longer automatically issue them now that the policy has changed.

ISIS attack kills 5 Turks on duty in Syria

ISTANBUL -- The Islamic State group on Friday killed five Turkish soldiers and wounded nine others in a car bomb attack in a northern Syrian town, Turkey's military said.

A military statement said the attack occurred in Sulfaniyeh, near Al-Bab, a town that opposition Syrian fighters with Turkish backing are trying to retake from Islamic State militants.

The new deaths raise to 54 the total number of Turkish losses since August, when Turkey launched its offensive in northern Syria.

The Islamic State group said in a statement that one of its members blew up his motorcycle near an area where Turkish soldiers and Syrian fighters gathered in Sulfaniyeh.

The Turkish military said none of the wounded soldiers was in serious condition. The statement conveyed condolences to the families of the slain soldiers and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.

A Section on 01/21/2017

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