Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, March 17

BEIRUT -- One person was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting the airport road in Beirut, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

In a statement, the Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of Public Health said nine others were wounded in the strike. (Lebanon-Israeli strike)

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WASHINGTON -- Joe Kent, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, announced on social media Tuesday that he has decided to resign from his position, noting that he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran."

"Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in a post on X. (Iran-U.S.-War)

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KABUL -- Skirmishes between Afghan and Pakistani troops left seven dead on the Pakistani side along the border with the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan on Monday night, provincial government spokesman Mustaghfar Gurbaz said.

"Afghan defensive forces attacked a Pakistani military post along the border in Ali Shir district last night, killing seven soldiers," the official Radio and Television of Afghanistan quoted Gurbaz on Tuesday as saying. (Afghanistan-Pakistan-Conflict)

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JERUSALEM -- The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that it carried out precision airstrikes in Tehran, killing Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran's Basij volunteer force, and Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Larijani is considered a key decision-maker in Iran following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28. (Israel-Iran-Killing) Enditem