Philippine officials have signed a power-sharing accord with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group and expect to sign a final peace pact with the insurgents next month to end a decadeslong rebellion in the volatile south.

The accord, which outlines the powers of a Muslim autonomous government in a region to be called Bangsamoro, was signed Sunday by negotiators for the government and the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Malaysia, which has been brokering the talks, officials said Monday.

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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says nine people, including civilians, military and a police officer, died in an attack on a police post that’s being blamed on rebels.

Santos says 23 civilians, 12 police and three troops were wounded in the attack in the community of Inza in Cauca department. He has offered a reward worth about $26,000 for information for leading to the capture of those responsible.

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Syrian rebels from an Islamist alliance formed last month have occupied bases and warehouses belonging to a Western-backed rebel group on the Turkish border, rebels and activists said on Saturday.

Fighters from the Islamic Front, a union of six major rebel groups, took control of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) bases at the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the northwestern border with Turkey late on Friday night, the opposition sources said.

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Militants stormed the Defense Ministry in the heart of Yemen’s capital Thursday, killing 52 people, including at least seven foreigners, in a suicide car bombing and assault by gunmen. The brazen attack claimed by al-Qaida’s local branch in Yemen follows a rise in U.S. drone strikes in this key American ally in the Middle East.

The two-stage operation came as the defense minister was in Washington for talks. The U.S. military increased its regional alert status after the attack and is ‘‘fully prepared to support our Yemeni partners,’’ a senior U.S. defense official said.

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The French army has deployed 250 troops in the Central African Republic capital of Bangui in an effort to restore security in the city following a deadly gunfight on Thursday.

“At this stage 250 French soldiers have been deployed in Bangui to secure and patrol,” ministry spokesman Gilles Jarron told a news briefing.

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News sources from Beledweyne the headquarter town of Hiran region confirm that a heavy fighting occured last night between al-Shabaab fighters and AMISOM troops based in the region.

The fighting occured when the al-Shabaab fighters attacked an AMISOM base in the town causing severe casualties on both sides.

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Indian army and police forces battled militants overnight in Kashmir, killing three of them, the army said Tuesday, a day after militants killed a top police official in the disputed Himalayan region.

Indian forces launched the joint operation Monday night after learning that militants were hiding in a forest village in the Handwara region, army spokesman Lieut. Colonel Nitin Narhar Joshi said.

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