Militants kill cleric and 14 others in Somalia car bomb and gun attack

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.

Shiite leader Ibrahim Zakzaky and his wife have been in jail since 2015. On Wednesday, a Nigerian court acquitted the couple and ordered their release.

Afghan special forces patrol the streets of Herat as the Taliban press on with a series of offensives on cities, having seized control of much of rural Afghanistan since foreign forces began the last stage of their withdrawal in May.

Authorities said the van was carrying as many as 30 people, mainly migrant workers, at the time when it crashed on a highway in southern Texas after the driver lost control of the vehicle.

Two cars are seen destroyed in Kabul after the United States said it carried out an air strike on Sunday night in Kabul on an IS-prepared car bomb. The US military said it was "aware of reports of civilian casualties" from the strike, which came after an attack outside the airport late last week killed more than 100 people, including 13 American troops.

Heavy police presence was visible in Quetta on Sunday after a suicide bomb attack took place, targeting a Frontier Corps (FC) check post killing four personnel and injuring 20. The attack took place on Sunday in Quetta, Pakistan near the Afghanistan border. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP). The targeted group, the Frontier Corps are an anti-terrorism unit stationed along the Pak-Afghan border Prime minister Imran Khan, condemned the attack and offered his condolences to the families of those killed in the attack in a tweet. “Condemn the TTP suicide attack on FC checkpost, Mastung road, Quetta. My condolences go to the families of the martyrs & prayers for the recovery of the injured. Salute our security forces & their sacrifices to keep us safe by thwarting foreign-backed terrorists' designs,” read the tweet.

In a startling suicide attack being reported from Pakistan, the perpetrator allegedly drove a motorcycle into a security agency's vehicle. The incident occurred in Quetta, near the Afghanistan border. At least 3 security personnel were killed while around 20 people were injured, as per reports. Pakistani news outlets said the Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department was at the spot to investigate.

French President Emmanuel Macron has hailed the killing of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, the leader of the "Islamic State in the Sahara," as a "huge success." But analysts warn that the terror threat is far from over.

At least two people have been killed and 20 others have been wounded in separate explosions in eastern Afghanistan. Witnesses have said the explosions targeted Taliban vehicles.

The Shiite militants' top court had sentenced the nine over the 2018 death of Saleh al-Samad, the most senior Houthi leader to be killed by the Saudi-led coalition.

Russia has always denied any involvement in the death of a former spy, but the European Court of Human Rights says it was "beyond doubt" that Moscow assassinated Alexander Litvinenko.

Today's Focus takes us to Kinshasa, DRC's sprawling capital city, where growing addiction to "bombé," a new artisanal drug, is rattling authorities. The lethargy-inducing mixture is made of crushed pills (often opioids but composition varies) and chemical residue that's been filtered through exhaust pipes.