Pro-autonomy Tuareg rebels in Mali said on Tuesday they had occupied the northeastern town of Menaka, seeking to extend their presence as they push for talks with the government after the retreat of al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.

It was not possible to independently verify whether the MNLA’s fighters had entered Menaka, some 250 km (156 miles) southeast of their stronghold of Kidal. Menaka was a cradle of their uprising last year that seized northern Mali but was subsequently hijacked by al-Qaeda and its allies.

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The Burmese government and ethnic Kachin rebels in northern Burma will hold talks in China this week after some of the worst fighting in the country in years, even as fresh shelling boomed across the front line.

The talks will begin Monday in the Chinese border town of Ruili, officials on both sides said Sunday.

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At least 21 rebels have been killed following fierce fighting between two rival groups in the southern Philippine island of Sulu, according to the police and military.

A Philippine police spokesman said on Monday that 13 members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) were killed, while eight rebels were confirmed dead from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

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At least four people, including a Frenchman, have been killed in a raid on a bank by suspected separatist rebels in Senegal’s Casamance region.

The Senegalese army said rebels from the Casamance Movement for Democratic Forces attacked Credit Mutuel bank in Kafountine on Friday.

It was not clear how the civilians, including the Frenchman, were killed.

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Taliban militants killed at least nine soldiers and four paramilitary troops in an attack on a Pakistani Army base in northwestern Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.

The raid on the army post in Serai Naurang town, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province began before dawn and lasted for several hours, said senior police officer Arif Khan Wazir. The militants were armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, he said.

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The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State has launched attacks on two separate camps allegedly belonging to Boko Haram members in the state, killing 17 of the sect members.

A statement issued on Friday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital by the JTF spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, revealed that the two special operations supported by the Nigerian Air force Helicopter gunship were aimed at dislodging Boko Haram members from their hideouts.

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Colombian army said that at least four soldiers are dead in clashes with suspected members of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) at Ecuador border.

Meanwhile in Avana opens fourth round of negotiations between government of president Santos and FARC to arrive to a peace agreement.

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