A teenaged boy accused of being a drug cartel hitman has gone on trial in Mexico. Edgar Jimenez Lugo, who was born in the United States, is charged with killing and mutilating four people.

The victims' bodies were found strung from a bridge last year in the central Mexican resort town of Cuernavaca, in Morelos state, outside of Mexico City.

In a video interview Lugo says he felt bad committing the murders, but feared for his own life if he did not carry out the orders of the South Pacific drug cartel.

Residents of southern Yemen say government forces and tribal allies have killed at least 20 Islamist militants in two days of battles to retake control of parts of Abyan province.

The reports on Tuesday say Yemeni soldiers and local tribesmen inflicted heavy losses on the militants in areas of Abyan seized by those militants in recent months.

There was no independent confirmation of the incidents. It was not clear how many casualties the military and tribesmen have suffered in the fighting.

Guinean President Alpha Conde escaped an assassination attempt early Tuesday when unidentified gunmen attacked his home.

Mr. Conde, who was not injured in the assault, later appeared on state television and appealed for calm.

Witnesses reported hearing heavy shooting overnight at the president's home in the Kipe suburb of the capital, Conakry. In his speech, Mr. Conde said the fighting lasted about two hours, and he thanked the presidential guard which said “fought heroically.”

A minister in the Guinean presidency, Francois Fall, says one member of the guard was killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna Tuesday urged Pakistan to do more to eliminate terrorist safe-havens on its territory.

The appeal came as the two countries ended another round of their strategic dialogue that also focused on Afghanistan and U.S.-India nuclear cooperation.

Greek maritime officials say pirates have seized a Greek-run oil tanker off the coast of Nigeria.

Officials said Monday that the Aegean Star and its 20-member crew were hijacked on Saturday.

They say the ship was carrying oil from Ghana to Benin when it was seized 55 kilometers off the Nigerian coast, in the Gulf of Guinea.

The ship’s crew is said to include three Greeks and sailors of other nationalities. There has been no word on their condition.

The Liberian-flagged ship is operated by Greece-based Endeavour Marine Company. The company had no comment as of Monday.

The Pakistani Taliban has released a graphic video purportedly showing militants executing 16 Pakistani police officers who were captured in the country's northwest last month.

The video, which was posted on a website, shows the tribal police officers, wearing traditional baggy shirt and pants, known as shalwar kameez, lined up with their hands tied behind their backs.

Authorities in the Russian republic of Dagestan say three suspected insurgents were killed Friday in a shootout with police.

Law enforcement officials say a police patrol stopped a suspicious car during the night at a checkpoint in the capital Makhachkala. Police say the occupants of the car started shooting, and the police returned fire, killing all three.

Interfax reports the three insurgents are suspected of involvement in the killing of the deputy commander of the OMON-1 squad of the Interior Ministry of Dagestan, Shamil Murtuzaliyev.

A South Korean captain who is being held by Somali pirates says his captors are demanding that the South Korean government pay them compensation for pirates killed by its navy.

Captain Pak Hyeon contacted VOA by phone Friday, saying the pirates want Seoul to pay compensation for eight dead comrades and release another five held prisoner. He said the pirates have not named a price.

There was no immediate response by the South Korean government to those demands.

India's home secretary says detectives are examining forensic evidence and surveillance video, as they hunt for clues into the deadly bomb blasts that hit Mumbai earlier this week.

R.K. Singh said Friday authorities have identified a scooter which they said contained one of the bombs. A total of three blasts occurred within 20 minutes of each other in India's financial capital Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding 133 others.

Surveillance video