| FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK TWITTER FLIPBOARD TELEGRAM |
Taliban fighters have ambushed a police convoy in Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan Province, killing 20 officers and wounding 12 others.
Deputy Provincial Governor Mohammad Baydar confirmed those figures to RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan, adding that “heavy casualties” had been inflicted on Taliban fighters, without giving figures.
Fighters linked to an al-Qaeda-affiliated group overran the Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border on Wednesday after fighting broke out with Free Syrian Army units, according to local opposition activists.
Divisions within Syrian rebel ranks escalated into open conflict late Wednesday when members of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group clashed with fighters from the Western-backed Free Syrian Army in a town near the Turkish border.
Nigeria’s military said on Wednesday it had killed 150 insurgents, including a commander, in an operation against Islamist group Boko Haram in which 16 of its own forces were also killed.
Violence in northeast Nigeria has intensified over the past two months, as the Islamists fight back against a military operation that president Goodluck Jonathan ordered in May to try to crush their four-year rebellion.
A British defense study showed that about 100,000 foreign-backed militants, fragmented into 1,000 groups, are fighting in Syria against the government and people.
The extracts of the study by defense consultancy IHS Jane’s were published on Monday in The Daily Telegraph.
IHS Jane’s estimates that some 10,000 militants are fighting for groups affiliated with al-Qaeda such as al-Nusra Front and the rest fight for different militant groups.
Security forces have arrested 45 people in an operation against Islamists in a town in Upper Egypt which has witnessed numerous attacks on Christians in recent weeks.
A temporary curfew was imposed in Dalja, Minya governorate, on Monday morning as police and army, accompanied by the air force, descended on the town.