Wars in the World

Fighting around the strategic Mozambique town of Palma entered a second day on Thursday as ISIL-linked fighters occupied and ransacked it despite French energy giant Total claiming it was secure.

Mozambique’s government said the town – in its northernmost province of Cabo Delgado and about 10km (6.2 miles) from gas developments worth $60bn – came under a three-pronged attack on Wednesday and security forces moved in to establish order.

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More than 3,000 people have been displaced by heavy clashes between Colombian non-state armed groups and the Venezuelan army in La Victoria and rural surroundings in Venezuela. Displaced communities are fleeing into Colombia, many in need of aid.

“It was reported that families continue to flee across the border in search of safety as the violence in the area has not completely stopped. People we have spoken with are terrified and fear for their lives,” said Dominika Arseniuk, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Country Director in Colombia.

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At least 11 people have been killed in three separate jihadist attacks in the western Tillaberi region that is close to Mali, local officials said.

The militants arrived in the villages on motorbikes on Wednesday and set classrooms on fire, looted a health centre and stole livestock.

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The Philippine military said Wednesday that its troops have killed at least 16 Muslim rebels aligned with the Islamic State group in a series of clashes over the last week that have displaced thousands of villagers in a southern province.

The heaviest fighting began March 17 and lasted four days in Maguindanao province’s Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, regional military spokesman Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar said. He said troops killed 14 militants, from both the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Dawlah Islamiyah groups, and wounded another 25.

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Leader of the ISIS terrorist organization in the Sinai Peninsula, Salim Salma Said Mahmoud al-Hamadin, was killed during clashes with Bedouin and Egyptian forces near Al-Barth, south of Rafah and near the border with Israel, according to Arabic media. A bodyguard and escort were also detained.

Hamadin, referred to as the “most dangerous and oldest of the takfiri elements in the Sinai,” was responsible for the murder of hundreds of civilians and Egyptian soldiers, according to the reports. “Takfiri” is a word often used to refer to armed extremist groups, but originally referred to Muslim apostates or infidels.

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