The Nigerian government has launched a military operation against Islamic militants after more than 160 people were killed in Muslim-majority villages.

The United States airstrikes targeting militants affiliated with the Islamic State group in northwestern Nigeria are a major escalation of an offensive that Nigeria’s overstretched military has struggled with for years.

Several parents of the over 300 schoolchildren seized by armed men in the latest mass abduction in Nigeria tell The Associated Press the government has told them nothing about rescue efforts.

The Houston Police Department says an officer has been placed on restricted (desk) duty after he was arrested over the weekend for public intoxication.