KABUL - Afghanistan has suffered months of air strikes, but today it will be hit by cakes.
United States planes will drop 20,865kg of cakes to mark the end of fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Sky News reported the sweetened strikes will be near the cities of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz and Kandahar to celebrate the start of Eid al-Fitr, the biggest holiday in the Muslim calendar.
One of the traditional ways to mark the holiday is to share sweets, especially cakes, with family.
The start of Eid al-Fitr was violent in the Middle East as Israeli helicopters rocketed Palestinian security targets in the northern Gaza Strip.
Eid al-Fitr joins Christmas and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah as all three religions hold major celebrations this month amid the ongoing Mideast crisis.
US envoy Anthony Zinni ended his peace mission, leaving for Washington. The US State Department said efforts to broker a truce faced "major challenges". Palestinian police said two helicopters fired four missiles at a police station and security office in Jabaliya refugee camp.
In Indonesia, President Megawati Sukarnoputri hovered in an Air Force helicopter over Java's gridlocked highways today, observing the annual mass pilgrimage by Indonesians to their home towns to celebrate the end of Ramadan.
The exodus choked every major road out of the capital Jakarta, creating standstill traffic jams of up to seven hours on multilane highways.
Navy warships ferried tens of thousands of travellers between the islands of Indonesia.
Indonesia will free 1510 convicts, including political prisoners, to mark Christmas and the end of Ramadan.
- REUTERS
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