S P O T L I G H T

Seven killed in Nepal violence
Kathmandu, April 13
Seven persons, including two children, were killed and three others injured in fresh Maoist violence in Nepal, the Defence Ministry said today. Two children were killed and another was seriously injured when a bomb planted by the Maoists exploded in Sankhuwasabha district. In another incident, three persons were killed and two others injured when an underground bomb planted by the terrorists exploded in the Matadi area of Bajura district. Meanwhile, two Maoist rebels were killed in separate encounters with the security forces in Surkhet and Gorkha districts. PTI

Afghan village obliterated
Kabul, April 13
A village in northern Afghanistan, at the epicentre of an earthquake which killed at least 30 persons and injured 10, has been completely razed to the ground, an aid agency spokesman said today. The quake, which measured up to 5.8 on the Richter scale, struck Doabi village in Baghlan province yesterday, just weeks after another quake killed 800 and left thousands homeless. AFP