ROME (Reuters) – Italy on Thursday returned 13 ancient Iraqi artifacts that had been smuggled out of the country after the U.S.-led invasion.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Six members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol and a civilian were killed in an attack by a female suicide bomber in northeast Iraq on Thursday, police said.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan soldiers killed “dozens” of militants, including foreigners, in a clash on a highway in southern Zabul province on Thursday, the defence ministry said.