WORLD BRIEFS

ETHIOPIA: Incursion into Eritrea

Ethiopian forces entered archrival Eritrea on Thursday and carried out what a government spokesman described as "a successful attack" against military posts. Shimeles Kemal said Eritrea was training "subversive groups" that carried out attacks in Ethiopia. They fought a border war from 1998 to 2000 and tensions have reignited in recent months. "Recent attacks against European tourists is one of the reasons for the retaliation," Shimeles said. Militants attacked tourists from five nations traveling in Ethiopia's arid north in January. Five were killed and two kidnapped. Two kidnapped German tourists have since been released. Ethiopia blamed gunmen from Eritrea for the attack.

FRANCE: Gunman kills 2 soldiers

A gunman on a motorbike opened fire on three paratroopers at a bank machine in the south Thursday, killing two and critically wounding one of them, officials said. It was the second such attack in a week targeting French soldiers in a public place. The three uniformed soldiers had been standing at a bank machine in Montauban when a helmeted assailant arrived on a motorbike, opened fire and fled, police said. All three served with the 17th Paratrooper Combat Engineering Regiment, based nearby. On Sunday, a soldier was fatally shot in Toulouse by an unknown attacker.

ITALY: 2 held in plot on synagogue

A Moroccan man was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of plotting an attack against a Milan synagogue, while authorities in Britain detained a woman possibly linked to the plot. The Moroccan, identified as a 20-year-old worker who had lived in Italy since age 6, was arrested in the northern city of Brescia, 60 miles east of Milan. A computer authorities say contains plans for the attack was seized. In Britain, Scotland Yard said the 40-year-old woman was detained on suspicion of collecting information useful to terrorism. The British were in contact with Italian authorities to determine if there was a link between the woman and the alleged plot.