World briefs

SAUDI ARABIA

Islamic State tied to attacks

Militants linked to the Islamic State group were behind a surprise attack this month that killed seven people in eastern Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's Interior Ministry said yesterday. Spokesman Mansour al-Turki said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency that an investigation found that a 77-person terrorist cell helped with financing, planning and carrying out the Nov. 3 attack. He said some members of the cell had been in touch with Islamic State militants and received orders from abroad.

CONGOAmnesty blames Belgian firm

A Belgian company supplied bulldozers that destroyed hundreds of homes near a mine in southeastern Congo and lied about it for years with the help of a government cover-up, Amnesty International said yesterday. The demolitions began in 2009 near a copper and cobalt mine in Katanga province and were carried out by the police with help by Enterprise General Malta Forrest, a subsidiary of the Belgian firm Groupe Forrest International, said the Amnesty report, which draws on satellite imagery, video footage and criminal files. In a statement responding to the report, GFI said the evictions were "regrettable and unacceptable" but were the fault of the police, not the company.

AFGHANISTAN

2 coalition soldiers killed

Insurgent attacks killed two international soldiers and six civilians yesterday, and the death toll from a suicide bombing at a volleyball match rose to 57. The U.S.-led military coalition said two service members were killed in an insurgent attack in the east. Kabul police said a bomb placed on a bicycle exploded near a convoy of coalition military vehicles. The blast occurred along the highway from Kabul to the eastern city of Jalalabad. Separately, six Afghans were killed in northern Kunduz province when a bomb planted on a motorbike exploded in a marketplace, a provincial police spokesman said.