A U.S.-backed coalition of rebels in Syria — including Syrian Kurdish, Arab and Christian groups — captured several areas in the country’s north from the Islamic State extremists as government air raids on a rebel-held Damascus suburb killed at least 20 people on Thursday.

Government warplanes and helicopter gunships struck the suburb of Hamouriyeh, which over the past weeks has been subjected to intense government airstrikes like other opposition-held areas near the Syrian capital.

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Fighting continues across Afghanistan’s Helmand province as Taliban forces overrun the town of Sangin. But officials deny that police and government buildings in the district centre have fallen to the insurgents.

Talking to reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul, Masoom Stanekzai, the country’s acting Defense Minister, said the situation is “manageable:”

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Cameroonian troops have killed at least 70 Nigerian villagers while chasing Islamic insurgents in the Gwoza area of Borno state in northeastern Nigeria, fleeing villagers said. It was the second time innocent Nigerian villagers would die for Boko Haram sins.

Troops entered Kirawa-Jimni village on Sunday, asked where Boko Haram insurgents were and started shooting, residents said.

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French anti-terrorist forces operating in the Sahel region have attacked terrorist targets in northern Mali, notably striking a mobile column of the Al-Mourabitoun group there, a Defence Ministry statement said.

The operation took place two days ago in the Menaka region of Mali where troops from the “Barkhane Operation” intercepted an armed column of fighters, killing 10 militants in a four-hour fire-fight, the statement said.

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Yemen’s pro-government forces on Tuesday seized key ground in Hajjah province from Houthi rebels near the insurgents’ stronghold in Saada.

The gains came as Saudi Arabia shot down another ballistic missile fired from Yemen.

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