Rebel forces on Wednesday captured parts of the port city of Aden and a nearby Yemeni air base recently evacuated by U.S. forces, officials in the country said, with one rebel spokesman claiming that Yemen’s president fled Aden as his opponents advanced.

The rebels late Wednesday morning captured al-Anad air base, an installation that the last Yemen-based contingent of U.S. special operations forces evacuated over the weekend because of the deteriorating security situation in the country, said Mohammed AbdulSalam, a spokesman for the Houthi rebels.

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Islamist militants Boko Haram have snatched at least 500 children from a town in northern Nigeria, according to locals.

Residents in the town of Damasak, freed earlier this month (March 2015) by troops from nearby Chad and Niger, told the news agency Reuters how militants had earlier rounded up women and children.

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“The Army of Conquest” combines forces of al-Qaeda allies from Nusra Front with the powerful Ahrar al-Sham faction and several smaller Islamist groups, according to their founding statement posted Tuesday. The new coalition launched a joint offensive to take the capital of Idlib province on the same day, shelling the outskirts of the strategic city and detonating at least car two car bombs at army checkpoints in their push toward the urban areas.

“The attack has started from several directions, there are fierce battles,” Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

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Armed forces loyal to Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi have been on high alert in Aden following the Houthis’ takeover of Taiz city on Sunday, taking up positions along the governorate’s borders in anticipation of an assault.

Popular committee members and military forces have been gathering in the Karesh area of Aden governorate, near the border with Lahj, according to popular committee member Mohammad Herbaj.

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Ukraine on Monday accused pro-Russian separatists of firing heavy Grad rockets in violation of a shaky ceasefire between the two sides, as seven people were reported injured in fresh clashes.

Six Ukrainian soldiers were wounded during fighting over the last 24 hours, army spokesman Andriy Lysenko said, stoking fears of an escalation in violence following a month of relative peace since the signing of the agreement.

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