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Iraqi forces on Thursday started a new offensive as part of a US-backed campaign to drive the Islamic State extremist militia from its last key stronghold of Mosul.
The attack was launched early Thursday in the northern part of Mosul’s western section, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
Bedouin tribe Al-Tarabin announced that eight alleged militants were killed in clashes with its members, while two tribesmen were injured.
According to a statement by Al-Tarabin, the militants belonged to “Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis”, currently known as Sinai Province and affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has reported a series of skirmishes with the Burmese army in northern Shan State over the weekend.
Spokesperson Ta Aik Kyaw told DVB that the ethnic armed group engaged in five clashes with government forces on 29 and 30 April in several locations across northern Shan State, including in Namtu, Kutkai and Namhkam townships.
Fighting between two ethnic groups in the Central Africa Republic has left 45 people dead and 11,000 displaced, according to Human Rights Watch. Civilians were the target in the reprisal killings.
The violence pitted the ethnic Fulani Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC) against the Popular Front for the Renaissance in the Central African Republic (FPRC).
French soldiers killed more than 20 militants hiding in a forest near the border between the West African countries of Mali and Burkina Faso this weekend, its regional force said in a statement.
The operation followed the death of a French soldier nearby earlier this month. It involved both air and ground strikes, the statement said, but failed to identify the militant group that was targeted.