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Soldiers from the Arakan Army
Fighting broke out on Sunday between government troops and the Arakan Army in western Burma, in what is believed to be the first time in a decade that ethnic Arakanese armed rebels in the region have come to blows with the Burma Army.
The Arakan Army is largely based in Laiza, Kachin State, where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is headquartered, but ethnic rebel soldiers from the group have begun returning to Arakan State in recent months.
Fifteen militants were killed on Saturday in a clash with security forces in Khyber Agency, the military’s public relations wing said.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), approximately 30-35 militants attacked a security forces check post in Khyber Agency’s Tirah Valley, but attack was foiled through “effective retaliation”.
Syrian rebel groups on Saturday seized the city of Idlib, only the second provincial capital to be lost by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in more than four years of war.
The capture came as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed anger and shame at the world’s failure to stop the conflict.
At least seven people were killed on Friday when gunmen from the Islamist al Shabaab group stormed a popular hotel in the centre of the Somali capital, police and the militants said.
“We are behind the Hotel Maka Al Mukaram attack and fighting is still going on inside the hotel,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military operations spokesman, told Reuters.
Nigeria’s military claims it has destroyed the headquarters of Boko Haram in Gwoza, a town in northeast Nigeria. It was not possible to verify the victory that comes the day before presidential elections.
The official Twitter account of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters announced “FLASH: Troops this morning captured Gwoza destroying the Headquarters of the Terrorists self-styled Caliphate.'’
The commander of Iraq’s military operations in Salahuddin province says government forces have launched the final phase of an offensive to recapture the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit.
Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi tells The Associated Press Thursday that Iraqi troops and special forces have begun moving toward the center of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown.
Saudi Arabia and Gulf region allies have launched military operations including air strikes in Yemen, officials said, to counter Iran-allied forces besieging the southern city of Aden where the Yemeni president had taken refuge.
Gulf broadcaster Al-Arabiya TV reported that the Kingdom was contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to the operations.