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Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Jan. 11

Xinhua, January 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least three people were killed and 4 others missing on Sunday after a boat overturned due to bad weather in a lake in northern Turkey, private Dogan News Agency reported.

Five fishermen and two children fell to the Gici Lake in Samsun province of Turkey's Black Sea region despite bad weather conditions, according to the report. (Turkey-Accident)

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CAIRO -- Unidentified militants kidnapped a police officer in Egypt's North Sinai province on Sunday, the state-run MENA news agency reported.

The officer was kidnapped during his return from work in Rafah to his home in Al-Arish, according to a security source.

Egypt-Kidnapping)

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ALGIERS -- Around 20 people were injured and 18 houses were set on fire with 15 people arrested in a new wave of sectarian violence that hit the province of Ghardaia, 600 km south east of Algiers, over the weekend.

After nearly two calm months, the clashes between the Chaamba community which is of Arab origin, and Mozabite Berbers of the Muslim Ibadi sect, erupted again, whilst elders warned that the region cannot withstand additional violence. They also urged the government to intervene. (Algeria-Clashes)

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MOSUL, Iraq -- More than 70 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Sunday in fierce clashes with joint Iraqi and Kurdish security forces backed by U.S.-led coalition aircraft, a security source said.

The battle broke out in the afternoon when dozens of IS militants stormed the village of Sultan Abdullah on the main road between the towns of Gwer and Qaiyara, in south of the provincial capital city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. (Iraq-IS-Clashes) Endit