Two large explosions in Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu have killed at least 18 people and injured dozens. One attack took place at the gates of the presidential palace, while a second hit near offices of the national intelligence agency. Officials say five of the attackers were shot and killed. The Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which … Read more
A senior Palestinian official on Tuesday said silence in US President Donald Trump’s administration over settlement growth and its failure to support the two-state solution encouraged “apartheid” Israeli policies. The criticism by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat came in a statement after the Palestinians had previously been careful not to antagonise the new US leader since … Read more
A Turkish court arrested three soldiers allegedly filmed beating up and verbally abusing four young Syrians who attempted to cross the border illegally, state media reported Monday. The video, widely shared on social media but which could not be independently verified, appears to shows four Turkish soldiers kicking and beating the Syrians. A court in … Read more
At least 26 Afghan soldiers have been killed and 13 wounded in a Taliban attack on a military base in Kandahar province, the defence ministry said Wednesday, the latest blow to struggling security forces. The militants “attacked an army camp in Karzali area of Khakrez district of Kandahar last night,” MoD spokesman General Dawlat Waziri … Read more
Medecins Sans Frontiers in Afghanistan on Saturday reopened a small medical clinic in northern Kunduz province where nearly two years ago a US airstrike destroyed their hospital, killing over 40. The new facility, which has one doctor and five nurses, will only provide outpatient treatment of minor and chronic wounds and is not located at … Read more
A US airstrike killed 16 Afghan police and wounded two others in Helmand province, officials said Saturday. The incident took place Friday 5 pm as Afghan security forces were clearing a village of Taliban elements, Salam Afghan, Helmand police spokesman, told AFP. “In the strike, 16 Afghan policemen were killed including two commanders. Two other … Read more
Egyptian police have killed two leaders of the Hasam militia in a shootout after intercepting them as they relocated to a new hideout on Cairo’s outskirts, the government said Tuesday. The interior ministry said the two militants were “prominent leaders” of the Hasam group — an extremist movement the government accuses of having links to … Read more
Five Yemeni soldiers were killed and three wounded Sunday when gunmen suspected of ties to Al-Qaeda opened fire on a military checkpoint, an army source said. The source said the gunmen managed to escape after the attack on the checkpoint in the northeast of Shabwa province, a southern stronghold of Yemen’s powerful Al-Qaeda in the … Read more
Egyptian police killed six militants who allegedly adhered to the Islamic State group’s beliefs when a gunfight erupted Monday during a raid on their Nile valley hideout, the government said. The militants opened fire on the police as they approached the hideout in Dairut, a town in the southern province of Assiut, the interior ministry … Read more
Egypt held funerals on Saturday for at least 21 soldiers killed in an attack by the Islamic State group in the restive Sinai Peninsula, officials said. The attack on Friday was one the deadliest against the military in a jihadist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the past four years. Police … Read more
Egyptian security officials said two suicide car bombers on Friday struck a security checkpoint in North Sinai where Islamic State group militants are waging a deadly insurgency. Ambulances raced to the site of the attack, which left casualties south of the town of Rafah bordering the Palestinian Gaza Strip, they said. It was not immediately … Read more
The African Union’s new chair Moussa Faki Mahamat on Wednesday questioned US commitment to fighting terrorism on the continent after it blocked efforts to get UN funding for an anti-jihadist force in the Sahel. “This is a specific case of a certain number of African states taking the initiative to create a dedicated force to … Read more
A drone strike likely to have been carried out by the United States killed two suspected Al-Qaeda members in southern Yemen, a security official said on Sunday. The attack took place on Saturday night in Wadhie, a region in the southern province of Abyan, the official said. One of the suspects was identified as Ibrahim … Read more
Eight people, including four children returning to school after Eid celebrations, were killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in eastern Kenya near the border with Somalia, police said. “We have eight victims — four children and four police,” a police spokesman told AFP following the explosion between Mararani and Kiunga, just a handful of kilometres … Read more
Five people were killed and 10 were wounded Thursday when a car packed with explosives rammed into the wall of a police station in southern Mogadishu, the security ministry said. “The blast was caused by a car loaded with explosives, five people were killed and 10 others wounded,” Ahmed Mohamud Mohamed, Somalia’s internal security ministry … Read more
At least 10 people were killed when Shabaab Islamists drove an explosives-laden minibus into local government offices in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, according to the security ministry. The minibus was rammed through a security barrier outside offices in the southern district of Wadajir, injuring nine people including the district’s top government official. “More … Read more
Gunmen have killed eight Afghan guards working at the largest American base in Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday, as the US appears set to boost its troop presence in the country. The guards were ambushed near Bagram base north of Kabul as they were driving home in convoy late Monday, said district governor Abdul Shakoor Quddusi. … Read more
A total of 10 militants have been killed and 15 others injured as clash erupted in Qaisar district of Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province on Sunday, an army spokesman said. The clash flared up in the wee hours of Sunday and lasted for a while during which 10 armed insurgents were killed and 15 others injured, … Read more
Gunmen attacked two restaurants in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu on Wednesday night, killing at least 17 people and injuring 26 others, with an unknown number of hostages being held by the attackers, rescuers said. An emergency team Aamin Ambulance said Thursday on Twitter that it has found 17 bodies and evacuated 26 people who were … Read more
Pentagon chief Jim Mattis on Tuesday warned lawmakers that the Taliban is surging in Afghanistan, and said America is “not winning” in the country. The “Taliban had a good year last year, they are trying to have a good one this year,” Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Right now I believe the enemy … Read more