Ukraine’s military is preparing to repel a possible assault by Russian-backed rebels in the east following reports of Russian military reinforcements crossing the border.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said Monday in an interview with the daily German daily Bild that the country is ready for total war.

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Rebel groups based in southern Syria are advancing on the western suburbs of Damascus and warning they might soon enter the capital, a development that’s in sharp contrast to the grim reports from northern Syria, where moderate rebels have suffered setbacks from the government and radical Islamists.

The advance by the so-called Southern Front also stands apart from the situation in the north because moderate rebels still appear to be the dominant opposition force in the south, eclipsing al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in planning and executing military advances.

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The Nigerian military has retaken Chibok, a town in Borno State, where nearly 300 schoolgirls were abducted on April 14, from the extremist Boko Haram sect.

The terrorist sect had taken control of the troubled town on Thursday night.

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The Islamic State (IS) militants withdrew from the perimeter of Iraq’s largest oil refinery in Salahudin province on Saturday, a provincial security source said.

“The security forces and allied tribal fighters seized the western and southern gates of Baiji refinery after the withdrawal of the IS terrorist militants,” the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

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Soldiers shot dead four communist rebels and arrested another in an encounter Thursday in a hinterland in Senator Ninoy Aquino town in the province.

A soldier who was slightly wounded in the ensuing encounter is now recuperating at a hospital.

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