World in brief: Islamic radicals on attack again

A radical Islamic group that was driven from power a year ago by a Western-supported offensive is making a significant comeback in Somalia, and the government can do little to stop it, officials said Thursday, as shelling and gunbattles in the capital killed at least 17 people.

Sheik Qasim Ibrahim Nur, director of security at Somalia’s National Security Ministry, said the government has no power to resist the Council of Islamic Courts.

He said the fighters had regrouped and were poised to launch a massive attack, adding that the government has “no power to resist the Islamists.”

Mortar rounds slammed into the biggest market in Mogadishu, killing 12 people and wounding more than 40 others.

Santiago, Dominican Republic

Authorities blamed for deadly flood

Survivors of a devastating flood lashed out at authorities Thursday for not warning that a dam’s floodgates were being opened during Tropical Storm Olga, unleashing a deadly wall of water that killed as many as 20 people.

As Olga began lashing the Dominican Republic with rain Tuesday, officials slowly released water from the Tavera Dam into the Yaque River, Octavio Rodriguez, a member of the committee that oversees dams during emergencies, told the Associated Press.

But fearing a dam failure that could kill thousands in Santiago, the country’s second-largest city, the panel decided around 11 p.m. Tuesday to open all six floodgates an hour later, gushing 1.6 million gallons of water every second into the river.

The late-night decision gave authorities too little time to warn people living downriver – many of them already in bed.