Train engineers on strike in Germany
BERLIN -- A union representing many of Germany's train drivers started a nearly three-day strike early Wednesday in a rancorous dispute with the country's state-owned main railway operator over working hours and pay.
Train travel across the country and in many cities came to a near standstill with commuters and other travelers struggling to find alternatives involving long-distance bus or car travel or flights.
State-owned Deutsche Bahn said only around 20% of its long-distance trains were running and many regional and commuter trains in cities such as Berlin were also not in operation.
"The strike by the train drivers' union GDL has had a massive impact on train services in Germany," said Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman Anja Broeker. "We regret the restrictions and hope that many people who were unable to reschedule their journey will get to their destination."
The GDL union's strike on cargo trains began on Tuesday evening.
In the wage dispute, the GDL union had already called two previous warning strikes last year, which lasted a maximum of 24 hours in passenger transport. The current strike lasts until Friday at 6 p.m.
Deutsche Bahn had tried to legally prevent the strike until the very end, but on Tuesday night a court ordered that the strike could go ahead.
IS claims deadly Afghan minivan blast
ISLAMABAD -- The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a minivan explosion in the Afghan capital that killed at least three people.
The militant group said in a statement that it detonated an explosive late Tuesday hidden on a vehicle belonging to employees of Afghanistan's main prison in Kabul, killing and wounding about 10 people.
Police spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed that a bomb had exploded but said three civilians were killed and four others were wounded in the attack.
He added that the explosion happened in the eastern part of the city, in the Alokhail area, and that police had detained one suspect.
The Islamic State group's affiliate in the region has in the past carried out attacks targeting Shiites, whom IS considers to be apostates.
Separately, at least seven civilians were wounded Wednesday after a hand grenade was thrown against a police vehicle in western Herat city, the capital of Herat province, according to Abdullah Ensaf, a spokesman for the police chief.
He said no police were harmed in the attack and no one immediately claimed responsibility.
U.N. copter attacked in Somalia; 1 dead
MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Officials in Somalia say al-Shabab extremists on Wednesday killed one person and captured five others on a United Nations helicopter that made an emergency landing in an area controlled by the fighters.
The minister of internal security of Galmudug state in central Somalia, Mohamed Abdi Aden Gaboobe, told The Associated Press by phone that the helicopter made the landing because of engine failure in Xindheere village.
The minister said seven passengers were on board: six foreigners and one Somali national. He said al-Shabab captured five passengers and another was shot dead while trying to escape. One passenger remained at large.
Al-Shabab has not claimed responsibility for the attack. The United Nations office in Somalia didn't immediately respond to questions.
An aviation official said medical professionals and soldiers were on board the helicopter that was headed to Wisil town for a medical evacuation but made the emergency landing in an al-Shabab-controlled area. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.
4 people killed at Pakistani checkpoint
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- About a dozen armed militants attacked a Pakistani police checkpoint on a northwestern highway before dawn Wednesday, killing three police officers and a civilian before fleeing the scene, authorities said.
The attack on the Lachi checkpoint on the Indus Highway in Kohat, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, triggered a shootout, said Jabir Khan, a local police official. Officers returned fire and a search was underway for the assailants, he added.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, who often target security forces across the country, especially in the northwest near the Afghan border.
The attack was the third on police in the past three days in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bringing to 12 the number of officers killed. On Tuesday, suspected militants shot and killed two police officers assigned to escort polio workers in the district of Bannu. Another two officers were also wounded in that attack, which targeted a nationwide anti-polio drive.
On Monday, a roadside bombing that targeted police assigned to protect polio vaccination teams killed seven officers in Mamund, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban near the Afghan border.
Deutsche Bahn ICE trains are parked on the tracks at the DB Fernverkehr plant in Hamburg, Germany Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. A union representing many of Germany's train drivers started a nearly three-day strike early Wednesday in a rancorous dispute with the country's state-owned main railway operator over working hours and pay. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)
Empty rails are pictured outside the central train station in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. The German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) will strike starting Wednesday in a bitter dispute with the main national railway operator over working hours and pay. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Two trains are pictured outside the central train station in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. The German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) will strike starting Wednesday in a bitter dispute with the main national railway operator over working hours and pay. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Empty rails are pictured outside the central train station in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. The German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) will strike starting Wednesday in a bitter dispute with the main national railway operator over working hours and pay. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Offices and shops inside the main railway station are illuminated in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)