Droukdel was killed on Thursday near the Algerian border, where the group has bases from which it has carried out attacks and abductions of Westerners in the sub-Saharan Sahel zone, Parly said.

“Many close associates” of Droukdel – who commanded several affiliate jihadist groups across the lawless region – were also “neutralised”, she added.

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The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a large-scale operation on Thursday against the Islamic State in Syria’s Deir al-Zor province after a recent increase in attacks by the extremist group.

The campaign, named “Deterrence of Terrorism,” is expected to last at least approximately one week.

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At least 16 people, including women and children, were killed by militiamen late Wednesday in an attack in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local media.

The raid by members of the armed political-religious sect the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) took place in Moussa village in Ituri province.

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Russian air strikes have hit Syria’s last major rebel bastion for the first time since a March ceasefire came into force, a war monitor said today.

The Russian strikes on Tuesday evening and at dawn today hit an area of the northwest where the boundaries of Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces meet, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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The Spanish authorities decided to close one of their military bases in Iraq and withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, El Pais reported.

Troops serving at the Bismayah training camp in Iraq are expected to return to Spain by the end of July. Currently, there are 350 Spanish troops at this base. For five years, they have helped train Iraqi soldiers and law enforcement officers. Since 2015, 17 army brigades and 10 police units (totaling more than 50 thousand people) have been trained here.

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