Afghan

A 28-year-old Afghan who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old primary school student in Lorengau between June 19 and 27 at a lodge, has been arrested for persistent sexual abuse.

PPC Manus Chief Inspector David Yapu said the refugee was arrested on Friday and has been locked up at the police cells.

Yapu issued a warning yet again to parents of young girls in the province to look after their daughters to ensure they are not lured by refugees for money or goods for such immoral acts.

He condemned the actions of the refugee, describing it as animalistic and cruel.

A gunman entered a Shia Muslim mosque in Kabul before opening fire and detonating an explosive, killing at least 39 worshippers.

An attack on a Sunni Muslim mosque in Ghor province killed 20 people.

No groups have so far said they carried out the attacks but so-called Islamic State (IS) has previously targeted Shia mosques across Afghanistan.

The new attacks bring to at least 176 the number of people killed in bomb attacks across the country this week.

Government forces have conducted a major operation freeing most of the hostages, but estimate more than 30 are still being held.

The Taliban have so far not commented on the incident in Aliabad district in the volatile province of Kunduz, where the insurgents briefly overran the provincial capital in a stunning military victory last year.

"The Taliban shot dead 16 passengers and they are still holding more than 30 others," said Sayed Mahmood Danish, spokesman for the governor of Kunduz.

Amid accusations that U.S. jet fighters were responsible for what Doctors Without Borders said was a "sustained bombing" of their trauma center in Kunduz, President Barack Obama and Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani promised investigations.

Obama said he expected a full accounting of the circumstances surrounding the bombing, and that he would wait for those results before making a judgment.

He said the U.S. would continue working with Afghanistan's government and its overseas partners to promote security in Afghanistan.

In a televised address, Ashraf Ghani also blamed neighboring Pakistan for what he described as Islamabad's support to the insurgents whose war against Kabul is now nearing its 14th year, and said he was sending a delegation to Islamabad later this week to demand a stop to this.

"We know they have sanctuaries there, we know they are active there," Ghani said, referring to Taliban leaders living in Pakistan. "We need all those activities to be stopped."

A number of other NATO service members and foreign contracted civilians were wounded in the Friday night attack, NATO spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said. The Afghans killed were working for NATO's Resolute Support mission on Camp Integrity in Kabul.

The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, expressed his "profound sorrow" over the tragedy and ordered an investigation into the killings.

The incident happened as coalition helicopters were flying over an area in Logar province where clashes were underway between Afghan troops and Taliban fighters, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said.

U.S. officials confirmed they carried out the strike, but declined to say whether they killed the leader.

The strike in Nangarhar province killed Islamic State affiliate leader Hafeez Sayeed and others on Friday, said Abdul Hassib Sediqi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security. 

Sediqi said Afghan intelligence officials provided information to U.S. forces, who carried out the strike.