The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has deployed thousands of troops around the disputed oil city of Kirkuk for fear of an attack by Iraqi government army and militia, a senior official said.

“Thousands of heavily armed peshmerga units are now completely in their positions around Kirkuk,” a top aide to KRG President Masoud Barzani posted on social media on Friday.

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At least five Taliban insurgents were killed in clashes with Afghan security forces in northern Jawzjan province on Wednesday night, local officials confirmed on Thursday.

In addition, four other insurgents were wounded.

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Islamist militants attacked a checkpoint in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region, killing at least five people in the early hours of Monday, police said.

The fighters from the al-Shabaab group then ambushed officers rushing in to help colleagues on the outskirts of the city of Bosaso, police Captain Abdifatah Mohamed said.

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Eighteen Yemeni rebels have been killed in fighting around the Saudi border over the past 24 hours, Yemeni army officers said on Tuesday.

Clashes flared this week around the Red Sea port of Midi and the nearby Saudi border town of Huthaira, spilling over into the rebel heartland of Saada inland.

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Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and other regional leaders have signed a declaration of independence from Spain, following the disputed referendum.

However, they say the move will not be implemented for several weeks to allow talks with the government in Madrid.

The document calls for Catalonia to be recognised as an “independent and sovereign state”.

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