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Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants have announced a military offensive against Islamic State-affiliated forces in Somalia.
A statement read Friday by al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage on Radio Andalus said the offensive, code named Disease Eradication, is aimed at getting rid of IS-related militants in Somalia.
The Trump administration is considering a “significant drawdown” of U.S. troops in Afghanistan that could begin in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reports.
An official told the newspaper more than 7,000 troops will begin to return home in the coming weeks in the “first stage of a phased drawdown” that could take “many months.”
President Donald Trump has begun withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria, the White House announced Wednesday, declaring victory over Islamic State fighters in the country despite ongoing skirmishes and concerns from others in Washington that the terrorist group might mount a comeback.
Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled army forces attacked Wednesday Saddada Castle between Misrata and Bani Walid, claiming control of the area after brief clashes with forces inside the castle under the command of the former chief of Petroleum Facilities Guard, Ibrahim Jadran and Benghazi Defense Brigades.
According to sources from the area, the clashes left injuries and deaths with reports saying the injured fighters under Haftar’s command were sent to Al-Jufra hospitals.
Clashes erupted Tuesday morning in Yemen just minutes after a ceasefire deal took effect in the country’s flashpoint port city of Hodeida, a pro-government official said.
The official told AFP that sporadic clashes in the east of the Red Sea city — whose port serves as a crucial gateway for humanitarian aid — are ongoing despite a truce deal that was to be implemented at midnight local time (2100 GMT).
The US military said it killed 62 al-Shabaab fighters in six air raids last weekend in the vicinity of Gandarsh in Somalia’s south-central Banaadir province.
The military’s Africa Command (Africom) said on Monday that four attacks were carried out on Saturday, killing 34 fighters, and two more on Sunday, which killed 28.
Six former members of the SPLM-IO have joined the Federal Democratic Party/South Sudan Armed Forces (FDP/SSAF) under the leadership of Gabriel Changson Chang, said a joint statement released on Sunday.
In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, Amb. Kang G. Kang, Brig Gen Lony Reath Duol, Gen Kok Yien Ding, Col Thonk Peter Puot, Col Char Onuer and Maj Sisto Darteyo Ladu announced their decision to join the FDP.