Somali Government forces aided by battalions from the neighboring country of Ethiopia have liberated Bakool regional capital of Hudur from al-Qaeda linked al-Shabaab fighters on Friday, Garowe Online reports.

Before the allied forces began to thrust into the strategic town of Hudur, they Thursday afternoon clashed with al-Shabaab militants in Teed village which lies about 30 km from Hudur according to witnesses. 12 persons from the opposing sides were confirmed dead, Bakool region adminstration disclosed.

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An U.N.-backed offensive by Democratic Republic of Congo troops has destroyed the bases of an Ugandan Islamist group in the country’s east and should crush the rebels in the next few days, an army spokesman said on Monday.

The Congolese army has been fighting the ADF-NALU militia since December following rebel attacks against civilians in the eastern province of North Kivu.

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At least 35 people were killed following two explosions in a crowded neighbourhood of Nigeria’s restless northeastern city of Maiduguri, a stronghold of Boko Haram Islamists, police said Sunday.

“We are still counting. So far we have counted 35 bodies. Our men are still working with rescue workers at the scene,” Borno state police commissioner Lawal Tanko told AFP.

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Islamic militants set fire to a locked dormitory at a school in northern Nigeria, then shot and slit the throats of students who tried to escape through windows during a pre-dawn attack Tuesday. At least 58 students were killed, including many who were burned alive.

They “slaughtered them like sheep” with machetes, and gunned down those who ran away, said one teacher, Adamu Garba.

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Nine al-Shabaab militants wearing military fatigues and carrying guns and grenades died after attacking the presidential palace with two car bombs on Friday, in an assault the president called a “media spectacular” by a “dying animal.”

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed, but two government officials were killed, the interior ministry said.

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An attack by scores of Boko Haram Islamists in the north-east Nigeria town of Bama has killed 60 people and caused massive destruction to public buildings.

Residents said gunmen stormed the town at roughly 4am on Wednesday, armed with heavy weapons and tossed explosives into various buildings, forcing residents to flee into the surrounding bush.

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Rebel forces loyal to the South Sudanese Former Vice President Dr. Riek Machar have recaptured Malakal in the early hours of Tuesday.

The rebels seized the capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile State early Tuesday after days of fierce fighting. The government of South Sudan depends heavily on oil revenues.

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