Iraqi forces recaptured the last district held by Islamic State militants in the city of Fallujah today and the general commanding the operation declared the battle complete after nearly five weeks of fighting. 
 
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed victory over Islamic State in Fallujah more than a week ago but fighting continued inside the city west of Baghdad, including in the Golan district. The offensive has been backed by a U.S.-led coalition mostly in the form of air strikes against Islamic State. 
 
&quot;We announce from this place in central Golan district that it has been cleaned by the counter terrorism service and we convey the good news to the Iraqi people that the battle of Fallujah is over,&quot; Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saidi told state TV. 
 
Flanked by jubilant fighters, some waving Iraqi flags, Saidi said a few militants were still holding out in buildings. At least 1,800 Islamic State fighters were killed in the operation to retake Fallujah, and the rest had fled, he said. 
 
Government troops launched the operation on May 23 to retake Fallujah, a bastion of the Sunni Muslim insurgency against U.S. forces that toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003, and later against Shi&#39;ite-led governments. 
 
Abadi said last week that the recapture of Fallujah would pave the way for the military to march on Mosul, Islamic State&#39;s de facto capital. 
 
Fighting to recapture the Iraqi city has forced more than 85,000 residents to flee to overwhelmed government-run camps. The United Nations says it has received allegations of abuse of civilians fleeing the city, including by members of Shi&#39;ite armed groups supporting the offensive. 
 
The militants seized Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they declared a &quot;caliphate&quot; over part of Syria and Iraq.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

Government fighters recapture the last district held by Islamic State in the city

Iraqi forces recaptured the last district held by Islamic State militants in the city of Fallujah today and the general commanding the operation declared the battle complete after nearly five weeks of fighting. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claimed victory over Islamic State in Fallujah more than a week ago but fighting continued inside the city west of Baghdad, including in the Golan district. The offensive has been backed by a U.S.-led coalition mostly in the form of air strikes against Islamic State. "We announce from this place in central Golan district that it has been cleaned by the counter terrorism service and we convey the good news to the Iraqi people that the battle of Fallujah is over," Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saidi told state TV. Flanked by jubilant fighters, some waving Iraqi flags, Saidi said a few militants were still holding out in buildings. At least 1,800 Islamic State fighters were killed in the operation to retake Fallujah, and the rest had fled, he said. Government troops launched the operation on May 23 to retake Fallujah, a bastion of the Sunni Muslim insurgency against U.S. forces that toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003, and later against Shi'ite-led governments. Abadi said last week that the recapture of Fallujah would pave the way for the military to march on Mosul, Islamic State's de facto capital. Fighting to recapture the Iraqi city has forced more than 85,000 residents to flee to overwhelmed government-run camps. The United Nations says it has received allegations of abuse of civilians fleeing the city, including by members of Shi'ite armed groups supporting the offensive. The militants seized Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they declared a "caliphate" over part of Syria and Iraq. (Reuters)

Battle over, say Iraqi forces in Fallujah

Heavy fighting between Islamic State (IS) militants and government security forces has claimed dozens of lives in eastern Afghanistan, officials said today. 
 
In recent months insurgents claiming allegiance to Islamic State had largely appeared to be bottled up in a mountainous area along the border with Pakistan under threat of US air strikes. 
 
The latest attacks indicate the group remains a potent threat to a government already battling an insurgency dominated by the rival Taliban. 
 
At least a dozen Afghan security forces and civilians had been killed, with another 18 wounded, Nangarhar province governor Saleem Khan Kunduzi said in a statement. 
 
Local officials claimed more than 100 Islamic State fighters had been killed in fighting in Nangarhar over the past three days, even though exact figures varied and could not be independently verified. 
 
&quot;There is no doubt that Daesh (IS) do not respect anyone,&quot; Kunduzi said, using a common term for Islamic State. &quot;They kill people, regardless of whether they&#39;re a child or a woman. They burn down madrasas, mosques and schools.&quot; 
 
As many as 25 homes had been burned down in Kowt district, and five civilians were reported kidnapped, Nangarhar officials said. 
 
Hundreds of police and soldiers are engaged in the area with reinforcements on the way, provincial police chief Zarawar Zahid said. 
 
At a small event today in Kabul, the head of Afghanistan&#39;s civil society federation, Sediq Ansari, blamed local leaders for being negligent in the face of Islamic State threats and called on them to be suspended. 
 
&quot;They should be accountable for every drop of blood that has been shed in Nangarhar so it becomes a lesson to other officials,&quot; he told gathered reporters. 
 
Militants linked to Islamic State have not made as much progress in Afghanistan as in Syria and Iraq, where the group seized major cities and wide swaths of territory and attracted thousands of recruits. 
 
In Afghanistan, the group is thought to consist mostly of disaffected members of other insurgent movements, including the Taliban, who have often battled Islamic State for control of areas in Nangarhar. 
 
In January, US President Barack Obama gave US forces in Afghanistan more freedom to attack Islamic State targets, leading to a spike in air strikes and other operations, especially in Nangarhar. 
 
No coalition forces have been involved in the latest fighting, spokesman Commander Ron Flesvig said. 
 
(Reuters)

According to local officials, more than 100 Islamic State fighters had been killed in fighting in Nangarhar over the past three days

Heavy fighting between Islamic State (IS) militants and government security forces has claimed dozens of lives in eastern Afghanistan, officials said today. In recent months insurgents claiming allegiance to Islamic State had largely appeared to be bottled up in a mountainous area along the border with Pakistan under threat of US air strikes. The latest attacks indicate the group remains a potent threat to a government already battling an insurgency dominated by the rival Taliban. At least a dozen Afghan security forces and civilians had been killed, with another 18 wounded, Nangarhar province governor Saleem Khan Kunduzi said in a statement. Local officials claimed more than 100 Islamic State fighters had been killed in fighting in Nangarhar over the past three days, even though exact figures varied and could not be independently verified. "There is no doubt that Daesh (IS) do not respect anyone," Kunduzi said, using a common term for Islamic State. "They kill people, regardless of whether they're a child or a woman. They burn down madrasas, mosques and schools." As many as 25 homes had been burned down in Kowt district, and five civilians were reported kidnapped, Nangarhar officials said. Hundreds of police and soldiers are engaged in the area with reinforcements on the way, provincial police chief Zarawar Zahid said. At a small event today in Kabul, the head of Afghanistan's civil society federation, Sediq Ansari, blamed local leaders for being negligent in the face of Islamic State threats and called on them to be suspended. "They should be accountable for every drop of blood that has been shed in Nangarhar so it becomes a lesson to other officials," he told gathered reporters. Militants linked to Islamic State have not made as much progress in Afghanistan as in Syria and Iraq, where the group seized major cities and wide swaths of territory and attracted thousands of recruits. In Afghanistan, the group is thought to consist mostly of disaffected members of other insurgent movements, including the Taliban, who have often battled Islamic State for control of areas in Nangarhar. In January, US President Barack Obama gave US forces in Afghanistan more freedom to attack Islamic State targets, leading to a spike in air strikes and other operations, especially in Nangarhar. No coalition forces have been involved in the latest fighting, spokesman Commander Ron Flesvig said. (Reuters)

Islamic State militants launch new attacks in eastern Afghanistan

Morocco said on Thursday that it had dismantled a suspected militant cell inspired by the radical group Islamic State, and that it had arrested 10 men who were planning attacks in the North African kingdom. 
 
The interior ministry said in a statement that the cell was operating in the eastern city of Oujda, and the town of Tendrara in the same region bordering Algeria. This was the latest in a series of radical Islamist groups that Morocco has said it has broken up. 
 
It said 10 members of the group were meeting in a safe house and planning to rob a mall in the city of Oujda to fund their attacks across the kingdom. 
 
The group includes an Algerian national living in Morocco illegally, according to the statement carried by state news agency MAP said. 
 
Morocco&#39;s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has actively tracked suspected militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-15. 
 
Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb states like Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts have said. 
 
Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. 
 
The Moroccan government has said it believes that 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militant factions in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, and 286 have been killed in battle. 
 
Morocco, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has been the target of militant attacks, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh when an explosion tore through a cafe and killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. 
 
(Reuters)

It said the militants were planning to rob a mall to fund their attacks across the kingdom

Morocco said on Thursday that it had dismantled a suspected militant cell inspired by the radical group Islamic State, and that it had arrested 10 men who were planning attacks in the North African kingdom. The interior ministry said in a statement that the cell was operating in the eastern city of Oujda, and the town of Tendrara in the same region bordering Algeria. This was the latest in a series of radical Islamist groups that Morocco has said it has broken up. It said 10 members of the group were meeting in a safe house and planning to rob a mall in the city of Oujda to fund their attacks across the kingdom. The group includes an Algerian national living in Morocco illegally, according to the statement carried by state news agency MAP said. Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ), the judicial part of the Moroccan domestic intelligence service, has actively tracked suspected militants since Islamic State seized large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014-15. Hundreds of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb states like Tunisia and Algeria have joined Islamist militant forces in Syria. Some are threatening to return and create new jihadist wings in their home countries, security experts have said. Nearby Libya has become a major draw for jihadists from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Islamic State has taken advantage of the security chaos there to build a base, operate training camps and take over the city of Sirte. The Moroccan government has said it believes that 1,500 Moroccan nationals are fighting with militant factions in Syria and Iraq. About 220 have returned home and been jailed, and 286 have been killed in battle. Morocco, an ally of the West against Islamist militancy, has been the target of militant attacks, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh when an explosion tore through a cafe and killed 15 people, mostly foreigners. (Reuters)

Morocco arrests 10 suspected Islamist militants, dismantles militant cell

Southeast Asian militants who claim to be fighting for Islamic State in the Middle East have said they have chosen one of the most wanted men in the Philippines to head a regional faction of the ultra-radical group, security officials said today. 
 
The claim was made in a video that was recently posted on social media, possibly last week, a military intelligence official in the Philippines said. 
 
The video is significant, experts say, because it shows that Islamic State supporters are now being asked to stay home and unify under one umbrella group to launch attacks in Southeast Asia, instead of being drawn to the fight in the Middle East. 
 
Authorities in the region have been on heightened alert since Islamic State claimed an attack in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January in which eight people were killed, including four of the attackers. 
 
In a 20-minute video, young men and some children in military fatigues are shown carrying and training with weapons, and holding Islamic State flags. A section of the video showed some of these men engaging in gunbattles in jungles but it was not clear where and with whom. 
 
The video also showed three men apparently being executed, but it was not clear where and who they were. 
 
The authenticity of the video and when it was taken could not be independently verified. 
 
In the video, a man authorities in Malaysia have identified as Mohd Rafi Udin, a Malaysian militant currently in Syria, says in Malay: &quot;If you cannot go to (Syria), join up and go to the Philippines.&quot; 
 
In the video, Udin also urges Muslims to unite under the leadership of Abu Abdullah, a Philippine militant leader who pledged allegiance to Islamic State in January. 
 
Abu Abdullah, also known as Isnilon Hapilon, is a leader of the Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf. He is on the FBI&#39;s most wanted list for his role in the kidnapping of 17 Filipinos and three Americans in 2001 and carries a bounty of $5 million. 
 
The video was released to mark Islamic State&#39;s acceptance of allegiances from jihadists in the Philippines, the first formal recognition of a Southeast Asian group, said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, chief of Malaysia&#39;s police counter-terrorism unit. 
 
&quot;This video is not just propaganda, but is a serious threat. We are definitely expecting more attacks in this region,&quot; Pitchay said. 
 
Hapilon is known to be based in the interior hills of the island of Basilan in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines. In April, at least 18 Philippine soldiers were killed and 53 wounded in an attack on his followers on the island. 
 
Kidnap gang 
 
For decades, Abu Sayyaf has been known for extortion, kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, and is one of the most brutal Muslim rebel factions in the south of the largely Christian Philippines. 
 
The group has posted videos on social media sites this year pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. 
 
The latest video appears aimed at recognising Hapilon as the Southeast Asian leader of the group, anti-terrorism experts said. 
 
&quot;I think this is a very significant video,&quot; said Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based security expert. &quot;This acknowledges support from Indonesia and Malaysia.&quot; 
 
&quot;It suggests there will be more efforts to get people to actually go to Mindanao to launch operations from there.&quot; 
 
The Jakarta attacks in January were claimed by Islamic State. But the attack did not bear the hallmarks of other spectacular strikes by the radical group - the militants lacked sophisticated weaponry and were amateurish in the execution. 
 
Some security officials fear a more organised and better trained militant group could launch far deadlier attacks in the region. 
 
But Philippine military officials dismissed these concerns, saying the video was just propaganda and should be ignored. 
 
&quot;People should not be bothered by this,&quot; said Philippine military spokesman Restituto Padilla &quot;Authorities are working on this. They can be identified, and they can be hunted down.&quot; 
 
(Reuters)

The claim was made in a video that shows young men and children training with weapons and holding IS flags

Southeast Asian militants who claim to be fighting for Islamic State in the Middle East have said they have chosen one of the most wanted men in the Philippines to head a regional faction of the ultra-radical group, security officials said today. The claim was made in a video that was recently posted on social media, possibly last week, a military intelligence official in the Philippines said. The video is significant, experts say, because it shows that Islamic State supporters are now being asked to stay home and unify under one umbrella group to launch attacks in Southeast Asia, instead of being drawn to the fight in the Middle East. Authorities in the region have been on heightened alert since Islamic State claimed an attack in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in January in which eight people were killed, including four of the attackers. In a 20-minute video, young men and some children in military fatigues are shown carrying and training with weapons, and holding Islamic State flags. A section of the video showed some of these men engaging in gunbattles in jungles but it was not clear where and with whom. The video also showed three men apparently being executed, but it was not clear where and who they were. The authenticity of the video and when it was taken could not be independently verified. In the video, a man authorities in Malaysia have identified as Mohd Rafi Udin, a Malaysian militant currently in Syria, says in Malay: "If you cannot go to (Syria), join up and go to the Philippines." In the video, Udin also urges Muslims to unite under the leadership of Abu Abdullah, a Philippine militant leader who pledged allegiance to Islamic State in January. Abu Abdullah, also known as Isnilon Hapilon, is a leader of the Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf. He is on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in the kidnapping of 17 Filipinos and three Americans in 2001 and carries a bounty of $5 million. The video was released to mark Islamic State's acceptance of allegiances from jihadists in the Philippines, the first formal recognition of a Southeast Asian group, said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, chief of Malaysia's police counter-terrorism unit. "This video is not just propaganda, but is a serious threat. We are definitely expecting more attacks in this region," Pitchay said. Hapilon is known to be based in the interior hills of the island of Basilan in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines. In April, at least 18 Philippine soldiers were killed and 53 wounded in an attack on his followers on the island. Kidnap gang For decades, Abu Sayyaf has been known for extortion, kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, and is one of the most brutal Muslim rebel factions in the south of the largely Christian Philippines. The group has posted videos on social media sites this year pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The latest video appears aimed at recognising Hapilon as the Southeast Asian leader of the group, anti-terrorism experts said. "I think this is a very significant video," said Sidney Jones, a Jakarta-based security expert. "This acknowledges support from Indonesia and Malaysia." "It suggests there will be more efforts to get people to actually go to Mindanao to launch operations from there." The Jakarta attacks in January were claimed by Islamic State. But the attack did not bear the hallmarks of other spectacular strikes by the radical group - the militants lacked sophisticated weaponry and were amateurish in the execution. Some security officials fear a more organised and better trained militant group could launch far deadlier attacks in the region. But Philippine military officials dismissed these concerns, saying the video was just propaganda and should be ignored. "People should not be bothered by this," said Philippine military spokesman Restituto Padilla "Authorities are working on this. They can be identified, and they can be hunted down." (Reuters)

Southeast Asian militants forming Islamic State unit in southern Philippines, say officials

Six Jordanian border guards were killed by a suicide bomber who drove a car at a high speed across the border from Syria and rammed it into a military post on Tuesday, security officials said. 
 
The explosives-laden vehicle blew up a few hundred metres from a camp for Syrian refugees in a remote, desolate area where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet, a Jordanian army statement said. 
 
The southeastern desert area is close to where Islamic State militants are known to operate, according to a security source who requested anonymity. The source said the attack appeared to be a well-planned military operation. No group has claimed responsibility. 
 
The army said a number of other vehicles used in the attack at around 5:30 am (0230 GMT) were destroyed and that 14 other people were wounded. The suicide bomber drove out from behind a berm and dodged gunfire to reach the military post, it added. 
 
It was the first such assault targeting Jordan from Syria since Syria&#39;s descent into conflict in 2011, and followed an attack on June 6 on a security office near the Jordanian capital Amman in which five people, including three Jordanian intelligence officers, were killed. 
 
The incidents have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been relatively unscathed by the instability that has swept the Arab world since 2011, including the expansion of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. 
 
In a rare move, the Jordanian army&#39;s chief of staff declared the northern and northeastern border strip with Syria a closed military zone, an order that went into effect immediately. 
 
&quot;Any vehicle and personnel movement within these areas that move without prior coordination will be treated as enemy targets and dealt with firmly and without leniency,&quot; the army statement said. 
 
International relief workers said the Jordanian authorities had also suspended all humanitarian aid to the area and that this could put the lives of refugees at risk. 
 
UN agencies responsible for the well-being of thousands of refugees did not comment on the drastic move which Western aid workers said penalized thousands of refugees, almost half of them women and children who have been stranded on the border strip for months. 
 
Jordan&#39;s foreign minister Nasser Joudeh confirmed deliveries of aid to the border areas had been halted until a safer area was found. 
 
He told state media the incident vindicated Amman&#39;s previous security warnings about the presence of hardline extremists within the camp. 
 
&quot;There is a large concentration of people along this border and a big infiltration of elements from Daesh terrorists who are present heavily,&quot; Joudeh said, using the Arabic derogatory term for Islamic State. 
 
Jordan&#39;s King Abdullah said the perpetrators would not go unpunished and that his security forces would deal with &quot;an iron fist&quot; with any group that sought to harm the country&#39;s security or borders, a palace statement said. 
 
Jordan is a staunch ally of the United States and is taking part in the US-led campaign against Islamic State in Syria, where the jihadist group still controls large areas of territory including much of the east. 
 
Jordan has kept tight control of its frontier with Syria since the outbreak of the war in its neighbour. 
 
Washington condemned the deadly attack as a &quot;cowardly terrorist act&quot; and said it would continue &quot;unwavering support&quot; for the Jordanian army, a statement from the US embassy said. 
 
Since the Syria conflict began, Washington has spent tens of millions of dollars to help Amman set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by militants from Syria and Iraq. 
 
The Rakban crossing targeted on Tuesday is a military zone far from any inhabited area, and includes a three-kilometre (two-mile) stretch of berms built a decade ago to combat smuggling. The border is heavily guarded by patrols and drones. 
 
US Patriot missiles are stationed in the kingdom, however, and the US army has hundreds of trainers in the country. 
 
It is the only area where Jordan still receives Syrian refugees, some 50,000 of whom are stranded in Rakban refugee camp in a de facto no-man&#39;s land some 330 kilometres (200 miles) northeast of Amman. 
 
REFUGEES STRAIN KINGDOM 
 
The camp&#39;s population has grown from several thousand to over 50,000 people since last year as the fighting in Syria intensified, relief workers say. 
 
Jordan has been a big beneficiary of foreign aid because of its efforts to help refugees, but has drawn criticism from Western allies and aid agencies over the humanitarian situation at Rakban where conditions have caused several deaths among refugeees lacking sufficient medical care, diplomats say. 
 
Earlier waves of Syrian refugees had an easier time, with some walking just a few hundred metres to cross into Jordan. Jordan sealed those border crossings in 2013. 
 
The United Nations refugee agency said late last year Jordan should accept the new wave of refugees -- their numbers have risen, aid officials say, since Russia started air strikes last September -- and move them to established camps closer to Amman. 
 
Jordan, which has already accepted more than 600,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees, is resisting. It says IS militants may have infiltrated their ranks as most of them come from Islamic State-held areas in central and eastern Syria, and has allowed only a trickle of refugees, mostly women and children, in recent months. 
 
(Reuters)

The incidents have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been relatively unscathed by the instability that has swept the Arab world since 2011

Six Jordanian border guards were killed by a suicide bomber who drove a car at a high speed across the border from Syria and rammed it into a military post on Tuesday, security officials said. The explosives-laden vehicle blew up a few hundred metres from a camp for Syrian refugees in a remote, desolate area where the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan meet, a Jordanian army statement said. The southeastern desert area is close to where Islamic State militants are known to operate, according to a security source who requested anonymity. The source said the attack appeared to be a well-planned military operation. No group has claimed responsibility. The army said a number of other vehicles used in the attack at around 5:30 am (0230 GMT) were destroyed and that 14 other people were wounded. The suicide bomber drove out from behind a berm and dodged gunfire to reach the military post, it added. It was the first such assault targeting Jordan from Syria since Syria's descent into conflict in 2011, and followed an attack on June 6 on a security office near the Jordanian capital Amman in which five people, including three Jordanian intelligence officers, were killed. The incidents have jolted the Arab kingdom, which has been relatively unscathed by the instability that has swept the Arab world since 2011, including the expansion of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In a rare move, the Jordanian army's chief of staff declared the northern and northeastern border strip with Syria a closed military zone, an order that went into effect immediately. "Any vehicle and personnel movement within these areas that move without prior coordination will be treated as enemy targets and dealt with firmly and without leniency," the army statement said. International relief workers said the Jordanian authorities had also suspended all humanitarian aid to the area and that this could put the lives of refugees at risk. UN agencies responsible for the well-being of thousands of refugees did not comment on the drastic move which Western aid workers said penalized thousands of refugees, almost half of them women and children who have been stranded on the border strip for months. Jordan's foreign minister Nasser Joudeh confirmed deliveries of aid to the border areas had been halted until a safer area was found. He told state media the incident vindicated Amman's previous security warnings about the presence of hardline extremists within the camp. "There is a large concentration of people along this border and a big infiltration of elements from Daesh terrorists who are present heavily," Joudeh said, using the Arabic derogatory term for Islamic State. Jordan's King Abdullah said the perpetrators would not go unpunished and that his security forces would deal with "an iron fist" with any group that sought to harm the country's security or borders, a palace statement said. Jordan is a staunch ally of the United States and is taking part in the US-led campaign against Islamic State in Syria, where the jihadist group still controls large areas of territory including much of the east. Jordan has kept tight control of its frontier with Syria since the outbreak of the war in its neighbour. Washington condemned the deadly attack as a "cowardly terrorist act" and said it would continue "unwavering support" for the Jordanian army, a statement from the US embassy said. Since the Syria conflict began, Washington has spent tens of millions of dollars to help Amman set up an elaborate surveillance system known as the Border Security Programme to stem infiltration by militants from Syria and Iraq. The Rakban crossing targeted on Tuesday is a military zone far from any inhabited area, and includes a three-kilometre (two-mile) stretch of berms built a decade ago to combat smuggling. The border is heavily guarded by patrols and drones. US Patriot missiles are stationed in the kingdom, however, and the US army has hundreds of trainers in the country. It is the only area where Jordan still receives Syrian refugees, some 50,000 of whom are stranded in Rakban refugee camp in a de facto no-man's land some 330 kilometres (200 miles) northeast of Amman. REFUGEES STRAIN KINGDOM The camp's population has grown from several thousand to over 50,000 people since last year as the fighting in Syria intensified, relief workers say. Jordan has been a big beneficiary of foreign aid because of its efforts to help refugees, but has drawn criticism from Western allies and aid agencies over the humanitarian situation at Rakban where conditions have caused several deaths among refugeees lacking sufficient medical care, diplomats say. Earlier waves of Syrian refugees had an easier time, with some walking just a few hundred metres to cross into Jordan. Jordan sealed those border crossings in 2013. The United Nations refugee agency said late last year Jordan should accept the new wave of refugees -- their numbers have risen, aid officials say, since Russia started air strikes last September -- and move them to established camps closer to Amman. Jordan, which has already accepted more than 600,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees, is resisting. It says IS militants may have infiltrated their ranks as most of them come from Islamic State-held areas in central and eastern Syria, and has allowed only a trickle of refugees, mostly women and children, in recent months. (Reuters)

Islamic State suicide attacker kills 6 Jordanian troops, injures 14 others at Syria border

US-backed Syrian forces edged closer to an Islamic State stronghold on the border with Turkey on Saturday while Russia&#39;s defence minister visited President Bashar al Assad to discuss military operations. 
 
The visit came only hours after the Syrian army and its Iranian-backed militias, which have been supported by Russian air power, lost several villages to Islamist rebels as they made significant advances in the countryside south of Aleppo. 
 
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebel capture of three villages from government control - Zeitan, Khalsa and Barna - had caused significant losses among government forces and their allies. 
 
The villages lie in an strategic area near a main highway that links Aleppo with the capital Damascus. Government forces captured the area at the end of last year in a major offensive, assisted by Iranian-backed militias and Russian jets. 
 
State media said Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited an airbase in the coastal Latakia province on Saturday after his talks with Assad in Damascus. 
 
Russia&#39;s military intervention in Syria in September helped turn the tide in Assad&#39;s favour after months of gains in western Syria by rebel fighters, who were aided by foreign military supplies, including US-made anti-tank missiles. 
 
Russia, which has been bombing opposition-held areas, is blamed by the opposition and rights activists for causing hundreds of civilian deaths and targeting hospitals, schools and infrastructure in what they say are indiscriminate attacks. 
 
An escalation in Russian and Syrian air and artillery strikes in recent weeks around a highway to rebel held parts of the northern city of Aleppo has made the road virtually impassable, putting hundreds of thousands of people under siege and worsening their humanitarian plight. 
 
A 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo announced by Russia on Thursday has had little impact on fighting, and air strikes and shelling have continued in and around the city. 
 
At least seven people died in rebel shelling of a neighbourhood of Aleppo held by the Kurdish YPG militia at dawn on Saturday, the Observatory said. 
 
Syrian helicopters also threw barrel bombs on several residential areas in opposition-held quarters. 
 
CLOSE TO MANBIJ 
 
Hundreds of people have been killed in Aleppo since peace talks broke off in April, as President Assad seeks to regain control of what was Syria&#39;s largest pre-war city, now split between rebel and government sectors. 
 
Washington and some other Western countries that have called on Assad to step down accuse Russia of focusing mostly on strikes against the moderate so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), and less on attacking hardline Islamic State militants. 
 
On the border with Turkey, US-backed Syrian forces fought to the western entrance of Manbij city for the first time since a major offensive to seize the last territory held by Islamic State militants on the frontier, a source in the Syrian group said on Saturday. 
 
The source from the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance - which includes the powerful KurdishYek?ney?n Parastina Gel&lrm; (YPG) militia, Arab fighters and is being helped by scores of US special forces - told Reuters its troops were now almost two km from the city centre. 
 
Since the start of the offensive on May 31, the SDF has taken dozens of villages and farms around Manbij but has held back from entering the city with many thousands of people still trapped there. 
 
The SDF is one of a number of sides fighting in Syria&#39;s complex civil war which has pitted rebels against Assad and is now in its sixth year. 
 
The Observatory, which tracks violence across Syria, confirmed heavy fighting broke out for the first time on the edge of the city, adding that the militants had rammed a suicide vehicle into an SDF outpost but gave no details. 
 
Syrian government forces and some rebel groups are also fighting separate battles against Islamic State. The SDF has largely avoided fighting government forces and focuses on battling the hardline militants. 
(Reuters)

Syrian forces lost three villages to IS near a highway that links Aleppo to Damascus

US-backed Syrian forces edged closer to an Islamic State stronghold on the border with Turkey on Saturday while Russia's defence minister visited President Bashar al Assad to discuss military operations. The visit came only hours after the Syrian army and its Iranian-backed militias, which have been supported by Russian air power, lost several villages to Islamist rebels as they made significant advances in the countryside south of Aleppo. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebel capture of three villages from government control - Zeitan, Khalsa and Barna - had caused significant losses among government forces and their allies. The villages lie in an strategic area near a main highway that links Aleppo with the capital Damascus. Government forces captured the area at the end of last year in a major offensive, assisted by Iranian-backed militias and Russian jets. State media said Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu visited an airbase in the coastal Latakia province on Saturday after his talks with Assad in Damascus. Russia's military intervention in Syria in September helped turn the tide in Assad's favour after months of gains in western Syria by rebel fighters, who were aided by foreign military supplies, including US-made anti-tank missiles. Russia, which has been bombing opposition-held areas, is blamed by the opposition and rights activists for causing hundreds of civilian deaths and targeting hospitals, schools and infrastructure in what they say are indiscriminate attacks. An escalation in Russian and Syrian air and artillery strikes in recent weeks around a highway to rebel held parts of the northern city of Aleppo has made the road virtually impassable, putting hundreds of thousands of people under siege and worsening their humanitarian plight. A 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo announced by Russia on Thursday has had little impact on fighting, and air strikes and shelling have continued in and around the city. At least seven people died in rebel shelling of a neighbourhood of Aleppo held by the Kurdish YPG militia at dawn on Saturday, the Observatory said. Syrian helicopters also threw barrel bombs on several residential areas in opposition-held quarters. CLOSE TO MANBIJ Hundreds of people have been killed in Aleppo since peace talks broke off in April, as President Assad seeks to regain control of what was Syria's largest pre-war city, now split between rebel and government sectors. Washington and some other Western countries that have called on Assad to step down accuse Russia of focusing mostly on strikes against the moderate so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), and less on attacking hardline Islamic State militants. On the border with Turkey, US-backed Syrian forces fought to the western entrance of Manbij city for the first time since a major offensive to seize the last territory held by Islamic State militants on the frontier, a source in the Syrian group said on Saturday. The source from the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance - which includes the powerful KurdishYek?ney?n Parastina Gel‎ (YPG) militia, Arab fighters and is being helped by scores of US special forces - told Reuters its troops were now almost two km from the city centre. Since the start of the offensive on May 31, the SDF has taken dozens of villages and farms around Manbij but has held back from entering the city with many thousands of people still trapped there. The SDF is one of a number of sides fighting in Syria's complex civil war which has pitted rebels against Assad and is now in its sixth year. The Observatory, which tracks violence across Syria, confirmed heavy fighting broke out for the first time on the edge of the city, adding that the militants had rammed a suicide vehicle into an SDF outpost but gave no details. Syrian government forces and some rebel groups are also fighting separate battles against Islamic State. The SDF has largely avoided fighting government forces and focuses on battling the hardline militants. (Reuters)

US-backed forces advance against Islamic State in Syria

Two men linked to a jihadist who killed a French police officer and his partner were charged and detained by an anti-terror court on Saturday. 
 
Saad Rajraji, 27, and Charaf-Din Aberouz, 29, were charged with having links to a terrorist group, but were not found to have any connection to the IS-inspired murder of the police couple carried out by Larossi Abballa last Monday. 
 
The two men had been convicted along with Abballa in September 2013 as part of a network to send jihadists to Pakistan, judicial sources close to the investigation said. 
 
A third man arrested in the case was released without charge. 
 
Abballa, a convicted radical who had been under surveillance, murdered the police officer and his partner outside their home and then was killed himself in a police raid. 
 
Before he was killed, Abballa posted a live Facebook video of himself in which he admitted the murders and urged fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed. 
 
Monday`s assault in a small town northwest of Paris was the first deadly strike in France since the coordinated attacks in the capital by an Islamic State cell in November, which killed 130 people. 
(AFP)

The men were charged with having links to a terrorist group, but they had no connection to the murder of the French couple

Two men linked to a jihadist who killed a French police officer and his partner were charged and detained by an anti-terror court on Saturday. Saad Rajraji, 27, and Charaf-Din Aberouz, 29, were charged with having links to a terrorist group, but were not found to have any connection to the IS-inspired murder of the police couple carried out by Larossi Abballa last Monday. The two men had been convicted along with Abballa in September 2013 as part of a network to send jihadists to Pakistan, judicial sources close to the investigation said. A third man arrested in the case was released without charge. Abballa, a convicted radical who had been under surveillance, murdered the police officer and his partner outside their home and then was killed himself in a police raid. Before he was killed, Abballa posted a live Facebook video of himself in which he admitted the murders and urged fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed. Monday`s assault in a small town northwest of Paris was the first deadly strike in France since the coordinated attacks in the capital by an Islamic State cell in November, which killed 130 people. (AFP)

2 linked to French police killer charged

Two suspected associates of the killer of a French police commander and his partner will be placed under investigation on Saturday for membership of a terrorist organisation, the Paris prosecutor&#39;s office said. 
 
The police duo were stabbed to death outside their home in Paris in an attack claimed by Islamic State on Monday. 
 
The magistrate&#39;s office said it had opened a judicial investigation into the deaths, focused on charges of assassination, sequestration and participation in a terrorist project. 
 
&quot;Charaf-Din Aberouz and Saad Rajraji (...) will be brought before a magistrate as part of the judicial investigation in order to be placed under investigation for membership of a terrorist group,&quot; the prosecutor&#39;s office said. 
(Reuters)

Islamic State claimed the police couple's murder

Two suspected associates of the killer of a French police commander and his partner will be placed under investigation on Saturday for membership of a terrorist organisation, the Paris prosecutor's office said. The police duo were stabbed to death outside their home in Paris in an attack claimed by Islamic State on Monday. The magistrate's office said it had opened a judicial investigation into the deaths, focused on charges of assassination, sequestration and participation in a terrorist project. "Charaf-Din Aberouz and Saad Rajraji (...) will be brought before a magistrate as part of the judicial investigation in order to be placed under investigation for membership of a terrorist group," the prosecutor's office said. (Reuters)

Two suspected associates of French police killer investigated for terror group links

Iraqi forces on Friday entered the centre of Falluja, the Iraqi city longest held by Islamic State, nearly four weeks after the start of a US-backed offensive that cleared out the tens of thousands of residents still there. 
 
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory shortly after nightfall, as government forces continued pushing into parts of the city held by the militants. 
 
Security forces &quot;took control of areas inside the city. There are still some pockets that need to be cleared in the next few hours,&quot; he said in a brief speech on state television. 
 
Government troops, supported by multiple air strikes from a US-led coalition, recaptured the municipal building, though the ultra-hardline militants still controlled a significant portion of Falluja, an hour&#39;s drive west of Baghdad, and many streets and houses remain mined with explosives. 
 
Federal police raised the Iraqi state flag above the government building and continued pursuing insurgents, according to a military statement. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Iraqi forces had taken back a portion of the city, although he added,&quot;There&#39;s still some fighting to be done.&quot; 
(Reuters)

Government troops, supported by multiple air strikes from a US-led coalition, entered and recaptured parts of the city on Friday

Iraqi forces on Friday entered the centre of Falluja, the Iraqi city longest held by Islamic State, nearly four weeks after the start of a US-backed offensive that cleared out the tens of thousands of residents still there. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory shortly after nightfall, as government forces continued pushing into parts of the city held by the militants. Security forces "took control of areas inside the city. There are still some pockets that need to be cleared in the next few hours," he said in a brief speech on state television. Government troops, supported by multiple air strikes from a US-led coalition, recaptured the municipal building, though the ultra-hardline militants still controlled a significant portion of Falluja, an hour's drive west of Baghdad, and many streets and houses remain mined with explosives. Federal police raised the Iraqi state flag above the government building and continued pursuing insurgents, according to a military statement. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Iraqi forces had taken back a portion of the city, although he added,"There's still some fighting to be done." (Reuters)

We have victory in Fallujah, says Iraqi PM

&nbsp;When US-backed forces seized Souad Hamidi&#39;s village in northern Syria from Islamic State last week, the 19-year-old swiftly tore off the niqab she had been forced to wear since 2014 and smiled.

&quot;I felt liberated,&quot; Hamidi told Reuters after swapping her black face-covering veil for a red head scarf. &quot;They made us wear it against our will so I removed it that way to spite them.&quot;

For the last two weeks, the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by US-led air strikes, have waged an offensive against the Islamic State-held city of Manbij, near the Syria-Turkey border.

The SDF have been cutting off routes into Manbij, encircling the city by seizing outlying villages like Hamidi&#39;s, Am Adasa.

Hamidi said she woke up one morning to hear that the SDF, which includes the Kurdish YPG militia and Arab fighters, had arrived in her village.

&quot;We saw (SDF) fighters behind our house, digging to station their snipers, we thought they were Daesh (Islamic State) fighters, who were still inside the village,&quot; she said.

&quot;We left, fearing we would be used as human shields during air strikes,&quot; she said. The family later returned once SDF fighters had pushed out remaining Islamic State forces.

Am Adasa had been under the militants&#39; control since 2014, when Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq. The governments of Syria and Iraq have launched offensives on other fronts against the group.

Under Islamic State, life was strictly regulated, Hamidi said, including dress codes.

&quot;They would punish people who did not follow their rules, sometimes forcing them to stay in dug-out graves for days,&quot; she said. &quot;Since they (SDF) took control, we are living a new life.&quot;

Sitting in her family home, Hamidi said she still fears Islamic State may return one day.

&quot;I want to erase Daesh from my memory,&quot; she said. &quot;I hope every area controlled by Daesh is liberated, that people are free of them and can live like we do now.&quot;

The 19-year-old tore off the niqab she had been forced to wear since 2014. 'I feel liberated,' she said, after swapping her veil for a scarf

When US-backed forces seized Souad Hamidi's village in northern Syria from Islamic State last week, the 19-year-old swiftly tore off the niqab she had been forced to wear since 2014 and smiled. "I felt liberated," Hamidi told Reuters after swapping her black face-covering veil for a red head scarf. "They made us wear it against our will so I removed it that way to spite them." For the last two weeks, the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by US-led air strikes, have waged an offensive against the Islamic State-held city of Manbij, near the Syria-Turkey border. The SDF have been cutting off routes into Manbij, encircling the city by seizing outlying villages like Hamidi's, Am Adasa. Hamidi said she woke up one morning to hear that the SDF, which includes the Kurdish YPG militia and Arab fighters, had arrived in her village. "We saw (SDF) fighters behind our house, digging to station their snipers, we thought they were Daesh (Islamic State) fighters, who were still inside the village," she said. "We left, fearing we would be used as human shields during air strikes," she said. The family later returned once SDF fighters had pushed out remaining Islamic State forces. Am Adasa had been under the militants' control since 2014, when Islamic State proclaimed its caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq. The governments of Syria and Iraq have launched offensives on other fronts against the group. Under Islamic State, life was strictly regulated, Hamidi said, including dress codes. "They would punish people who did not follow their rules, sometimes forcing them to stay in dug-out graves for days," she said. "Since they (SDF) took control, we are living a new life." Sitting in her family home, Hamidi said she still fears Islamic State may return one day. "I want to erase Daesh from my memory," she said. "I hope every area controlled by Daesh is liberated, that people are free of them and can live like we do now."

'We are living a new life', Souad Hamidi feels free after US-backed forces seize Islamic State-held village

An Islamist militant suspected of attacking a publisher last year has been arrested, Bangladesh police said today, in what they described as an important breakthrough in their investigations into a spate of horrific attacks. 
 
Suman Hossain Patowari, 20, was arrested in Dhaka late Wednesday over a brutal attack that wounded publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and two others at his office in the capital in October. 
 
The arrest comes amid a nationwide police anti-militant crackdown that has seen more than 11,000 people, including 176 suspected Islamist militants, detained since Friday. 
 
Police said Patowari belonged to banned Bangladesh militant outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). 
 
&quot;He admitted he himself hacked publisher Tutul three times during the attack,&quot; said Monirul Islam, who leads the police`s counter-terrorism unit. 
 
Islam told reporters that the arrest of Patowari represented &quot;an important breakthrough&quot; in smashing the leadership of the ABT, a group suspected of carrying out several attacks. 
 
Three assailants wielding machetes and meat cleavers attacked Tutul, together with a secular blogger and a poet, at his publishing firm in the capital, leaving them in a pool of blood. 
 
Tutul had published books by a controversial Bangladeshi-American atheist writer Avijit Roy, who was murdered outside a book fair earlier in the year. 
 
On the same day Tutul was attacked, another secular publisher was slaughtered at his office near Dhaka University. 
 
A group named Ansar al-Islam, which claims to be a Bangladesh branch of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), claimed responsibility for both attacks. 
 
However in a new development, police said Thursday that ABT and Ansar al-Islam were the same outfit. 
 
&quot;Ansar al-Islam and Ansarullah Bangla Team are the same people,&quot; Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman said. 
 
Moreover, officers said that neither ABT nor Ansar al-Islam had any proven link to the international jihadist network al-Qaeda. 
 
Bangladesh is reeling from a wave of killings of religious minorities and secular and liberal activists that have spiked in recent weeks. 
On Wednesday a Hindu lecturer was left seriously wounded after being attacked in a southern district. 
 
Earlier this month, an elderly Hindu priest was found nearly decapitated in a rice field, a Hindu monastery worker was hacked to death and a Christian grocer was murdered near a church. 
 
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to catch &quot;each and every killer&quot; as her government comes under mounting international pressure to end the attacks. 
 
Nearly 50 people have been murdered over the past three years. 
 
The Islamic State group and AQIS have claimed responsibility for many of the murders. But the police and the government say international jihadist groups have no presence in the country. 
(PTI)

The arrest came amid an anti-militant crackdown in which 176 suspected Islamist militants have been detained so far

An Islamist militant suspected of attacking a publisher last year has been arrested, Bangladesh police said today, in what they described as an important breakthrough in their investigations into a spate of horrific attacks. Suman Hossain Patowari, 20, was arrested in Dhaka late Wednesday over a brutal attack that wounded publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and two others at his office in the capital in October. The arrest comes amid a nationwide police anti-militant crackdown that has seen more than 11,000 people, including 176 suspected Islamist militants, detained since Friday. Police said Patowari belonged to banned Bangladesh militant outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). "He admitted he himself hacked publisher Tutul three times during the attack," said Monirul Islam, who leads the police`s counter-terrorism unit. Islam told reporters that the arrest of Patowari represented "an important breakthrough" in smashing the leadership of the ABT, a group suspected of carrying out several attacks. Three assailants wielding machetes and meat cleavers attacked Tutul, together with a secular blogger and a poet, at his publishing firm in the capital, leaving them in a pool of blood. Tutul had published books by a controversial Bangladeshi-American atheist writer Avijit Roy, who was murdered outside a book fair earlier in the year. On the same day Tutul was attacked, another secular publisher was slaughtered at his office near Dhaka University. A group named Ansar al-Islam, which claims to be a Bangladesh branch of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), claimed responsibility for both attacks. However in a new development, police said Thursday that ABT and Ansar al-Islam were the same outfit. "Ansar al-Islam and Ansarullah Bangla Team are the same people," Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman said. Moreover, officers said that neither ABT nor Ansar al-Islam had any proven link to the international jihadist network al-Qaeda. Bangladesh is reeling from a wave of killings of religious minorities and secular and liberal activists that have spiked in recent weeks. On Wednesday a Hindu lecturer was left seriously wounded after being attacked in a southern district. Earlier this month, an elderly Hindu priest was found nearly decapitated in a rice field, a Hindu monastery worker was hacked to death and a Christian grocer was murdered near a church. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to catch "each and every killer" as her government comes under mounting international pressure to end the attacks. Nearly 50 people have been murdered over the past three years. The Islamic State group and AQIS have claimed responsibility for many of the murders. But the police and the government say international jihadist groups have no presence in the country. (PTI)

Bangladesh arrests Islamist militant over publisher attack

Islamic State jihadists are still committing genocide against the Yazidi minority in Iraq and Syria, United Nations rights investigators said today. 
 
&quot;Genocide has occurred and is ongoing,&quot; Paulo Pinheiro, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Syria said. 
 
&quot;ISIS has subjected every Yazidi woman, child or man that it has captured to the most horrific of atrocities,&quot; he added, using another acronym for the jihadist group. 
 
The Yazidis are neither Muslims nor Arabs and follow a unique faith despised by IS. 
 
The Kurdish-speaking minority is mostly based around Sinjar mountain in northern Iraq. 
 
In 2014, IS jihadists massacred Yazidis in Sinjar, forcing tens of thousands of them to flee, and capturing thousands of girls and women as spoils of war. 
 
The UN warned last year that the group appeared to be committing genocide against the Yazidis, but the COI&#39;s report &quot;They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes against the Yazidis&quot;, published today, was more conclusive. 
 
Based partly on interviews with survivors, the report found that IS &quot;sought to erase the Yazidis through killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.&quot; 
 
The group was holding Yazidis in conditions &quot;that bring about a slow death,&quot; and was transferring Yazidi children from their families to live with IS fighters, &quot;cutting them off from beliefs and practices of their own religious community,&quot; the report said. 
 
It showed that men and boys over 12 were separated from their families, and those who refused to convert to Islam were killed, while thousands of women and girls, some as young as nine, were sold in slave markets. 
 
The report said some 3,200 Yazidi women and children were currently being held by IS, mainly in Syria, where the females were used as sex slaves and the young boys were being indoctrinated and trained as fighters. 
(AFP) 
 
&nbsp;

A UN Commission of Inquiry report has said that girls were sold in slave markets, and men who refused to convert to Islam were killed

Islamic State jihadists are still committing genocide against the Yazidi minority in Iraq and Syria, United Nations rights investigators said today. "Genocide has occurred and is ongoing," Paulo Pinheiro, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Syria said. "ISIS has subjected every Yazidi woman, child or man that it has captured to the most horrific of atrocities," he added, using another acronym for the jihadist group. The Yazidis are neither Muslims nor Arabs and follow a unique faith despised by IS. The Kurdish-speaking minority is mostly based around Sinjar mountain in northern Iraq. In 2014, IS jihadists massacred Yazidis in Sinjar, forcing tens of thousands of them to flee, and capturing thousands of girls and women as spoils of war. The UN warned last year that the group appeared to be committing genocide against the Yazidis, but the COI's report "They came to destroy: ISIS Crimes against the Yazidis", published today, was more conclusive. Based partly on interviews with survivors, the report found that IS "sought to erase the Yazidis through killings, sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment." The group was holding Yazidis in conditions "that bring about a slow death," and was transferring Yazidi children from their families to live with IS fighters, "cutting them off from beliefs and practices of their own religious community," the report said. It showed that men and boys over 12 were separated from their families, and those who refused to convert to Islam were killed, while thousands of women and girls, some as young as nine, were sold in slave markets. The report said some 3,200 Yazidi women and children were currently being held by IS, mainly in Syria, where the females were used as sex slaves and the young boys were being indoctrinated and trained as fighters. (AFP)

Islamic State still committing genocide against Yazidis: UN

Islamic State still committing genocide against Yazidis in Syria, Iraq: UN

<div style="text-align: justify;">US&nbsp;President Barack Obama will meet with Saudi Arabia&#39;s powerful deputy crown prince on Friday and the two are expected to discuss conflicts in the Middle East including the campaign against Islamic State, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. 
 
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman, is on a visit to the United States aimed at restoring frayed relations with Washington and to promote a plan to slash the kingdom&#39;s dependence on oil revenues. Friday&#39;s meeting will take place at the White House. 
 
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the meeting would provide an opportunity to discuss issues including the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and &quot;our cooperation with the Saudis in the campaign against ISIL,&quot; as Islamic State is also known. 
 
U.S. officials have expressed unease about the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which has resulted in large-scale civilian casualties, according to the United Nations and human rights groups. 
 
Reuters reported last week that the UN&nbsp;had removed the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen from a child rights blacklist after intense pressure by Riyadh. 
 
Prince Mohammed, whose influence in Saudi governing counsels appears to be growing rapidly, is being given wide access to Obama&#39;s administration. 
 
He will visit the White House on Thursday afternoon to meet with Obama&#39;s National Economic Council to discuss the plan the prince is championing to transform the Saudi economy by 2030. US&nbsp;treasury secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will be present. 
 
&quot;A lot of our economic officials this afternoon will be meeting with him about how to move that programme forward and adopt best practices,&quot; Schultz said 
 
Prince Mohammed, who is also the Saudi defence minister, also is due to meet US&nbsp;defence secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon on Thursday. 
(Reuters)</div>

Deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman, is on a visit to the US aimed at restoring frayed relations with Washington

US President Barack Obama will meet with Saudi Arabia's powerful deputy crown prince on Friday and the two are expected to discuss conflicts in the Middle East including the campaign against Islamic State, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of King Salman, is on a visit to the United States aimed at restoring frayed relations with Washington and to promote a plan to slash the kingdom's dependence on oil revenues. Friday's meeting will take place at the White House. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the meeting would provide an opportunity to discuss issues including the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and "our cooperation with the Saudis in the campaign against ISIL," as Islamic State is also known. U.S. officials have expressed unease about the Saudi-led campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, which has resulted in large-scale civilian casualties, according to the United Nations and human rights groups. Reuters reported last week that the UN had removed the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen from a child rights blacklist after intense pressure by Riyadh. Prince Mohammed, whose influence in Saudi governing counsels appears to be growing rapidly, is being given wide access to Obama's administration. He will visit the White House on Thursday afternoon to meet with Obama's National Economic Council to discuss the plan the prince is championing to transform the Saudi economy by 2030. US treasury secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will be present. "A lot of our economic officials this afternoon will be meeting with him about how to move that programme forward and adopt best practices," Schultz said Prince Mohammed, who is also the Saudi defence minister, also is due to meet US defence secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon on Thursday. (Reuters)

Obama to meet Saudi deputy crown prince on Friday:  White House

Moroccan authorities have arrested an Italian national who was planning to carry out attacks on targets in the kingdom, said the interior ministry in a statement on Monday. 
 
Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, announced that it has broken up militant cells accused of plotting attacks inside and outside the kingdom. 
 
The suspected Italian national, who lives in Belgium, was arrested on June 8 when he landed in the eastern city of Oujda, based on intelligence report showing his alleged ties to the Islamic State group and involved in a plan to attack targets in Morocco, said the statement 
 
In 2014, he tried to travel to Syria or Iraq but failed, despite guidance from an Islamic State member, and returned to Belgium 
 
Authorities said the suspect has already visited Morocco in 2015, sent by Islamic State, and identified targets in Casablanca, Morocco&#39;s biggest city. 
 
Moroccan security officials provided information that helped their European counterparts in fighting militancy, especially during the recent Paris attacks. 
 
Thousands of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb nations, such as Tunisia, have joined Islamist militant forces that is in conflict in Iraq and Syria, and also in Libya. Some are threatening to return home to carry out attacks and recruit more jihadis, says&nbsp;security experts . 
 
Moroccan officials estimate that 2,000 Moroccan fighters have joined armed groups in Syria and Iraq, including Islamic State and the al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front, and about 200 have been jailed on their return home. 
 
The North African state has suffered bomb attacks by suspected Islamist fighters, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh.

According to authorities, the suspect had visited Morocco in 2015, backed by IS, and identified targets in Casablanca

Moroccan authorities have arrested an Italian national who was planning to carry out attacks on targets in the kingdom, said the interior ministry in a statement on Monday. Morocco, a Western ally against Islamist militancy, announced that it has broken up militant cells accused of plotting attacks inside and outside the kingdom. The suspected Italian national, who lives in Belgium, was arrested on June 8 when he landed in the eastern city of Oujda, based on intelligence report showing his alleged ties to the Islamic State group and involved in a plan to attack targets in Morocco, said the statement In 2014, he tried to travel to Syria or Iraq but failed, despite guidance from an Islamic State member, and returned to Belgium Authorities said the suspect has already visited Morocco in 2015, sent by Islamic State, and identified targets in Casablanca, Morocco's biggest city. Moroccan security officials provided information that helped their European counterparts in fighting militancy, especially during the recent Paris attacks. Thousands of fighters from Morocco and other Maghreb nations, such as Tunisia, have joined Islamist militant forces that is in conflict in Iraq and Syria, and also in Libya. Some are threatening to return home to carry out attacks and recruit more jihadis, says security experts . Moroccan officials estimate that 2,000 Moroccan fighters have joined armed groups in Syria and Iraq, including Islamic State and the al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front, and about 200 have been jailed on their return home. The North African state has suffered bomb attacks by suspected Islamist fighters, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh.

Morocco arrests Italian suspected of Islamic State ties

A Syrian journalist campaigning against the Islamic State was shot by fighters from the group in southeastern Turkey, a news agency affiliated with the radical Islamists and Syrian activists said today. 
 
Ahmed Abdulkader was shot in the head by two Islamic State militants riding a motorcycle and is being treated in the intensive care unit of Sanliurfa state hospital, an official in the provincial governor&#39;s office said. 
 
The Amaq news agency, which is close to Islamic State, said Abdulkader was the head of a local newspaper and one of the founders of &quot;Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently&quot;, a campaign group against the radical militants. 
 
His attempted killing is the fifth such attack in the past eight months targeting Syrian anti-Islamic State activists in Turkey&#39;s southeast, parts of which are held by the radical militants. None of the others survived. 
 
Among the four killed was Abdulkader&#39;s 27-year-old brother, Ibrahim, a member of the same campaign group who was shot in the head and beheaded along with a fellow activist at his home in Sanliurfa last October. 
 
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member Turkey has increasingly become a target for the Islamic State. The group has been blamed for two suicide bombings in Istanbul this year and has carried out targeted killings in the southern cities of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa, both hubs for Syrian activists trying to document the war. (Reuters) 
 
An online broadcaster for Aleppo Today, who was shot in the neck in April, died at the hospital two days later. That attack came three months after a Syrian documentary maker was gunned down in Gaziantep. Both killings were blamed on the Islamic State. 
 
Turkey has long faced criticism for failing to do more to prevent thousands of suspected foreign fighters from crossing its territory to join the ranks of Islamic State in Syria. 
 
Since last July, border security has been tightened. Turkey has also helped to facilitate joint air strikes with US-led coalition aircraft on Islamic State positions in northern Syria, and the military has ramped up artillery fire in response to cross-border shelling.

The attack is the fifth attempt to kill Syrian anti-IS activists in Turkey in the last eight months

A Syrian journalist campaigning against the Islamic State was shot by fighters from the group in southeastern Turkey, a news agency affiliated with the radical Islamists and Syrian activists said today. Ahmed Abdulkader was shot in the head by two Islamic State militants riding a motorcycle and is being treated in the intensive care unit of Sanliurfa state hospital, an official in the provincial governor's office said. The Amaq news agency, which is close to Islamic State, said Abdulkader was the head of a local newspaper and one of the founders of "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently", a campaign group against the radical militants. His attempted killing is the fifth such attack in the past eight months targeting Syrian anti-Islamic State activists in Turkey's southeast, parts of which are held by the radical militants. None of the others survived. Among the four killed was Abdulkader's 27-year-old brother, Ibrahim, a member of the same campaign group who was shot in the head and beheaded along with a fellow activist at his home in Sanliurfa last October. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member Turkey has increasingly become a target for the Islamic State. The group has been blamed for two suicide bombings in Istanbul this year and has carried out targeted killings in the southern cities of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa, both hubs for Syrian activists trying to document the war. (Reuters) An online broadcaster for Aleppo Today, who was shot in the neck in April, died at the hospital two days later. That attack came three months after a Syrian documentary maker was gunned down in Gaziantep. Both killings were blamed on the Islamic State. Turkey has long faced criticism for failing to do more to prevent thousands of suspected foreign fighters from crossing its territory to join the ranks of Islamic State in Syria. Since last July, border security has been tightened. Turkey has also helped to facilitate joint air strikes with US-led coalition aircraft on Islamic State positions in northern Syria, and the military has ramped up artillery fire in response to cross-border shelling.

Syrian activist shot by Islamic State fighters in southeast Turkey, in critical condition

<div>The photo from Omar Mateen&rsquo;s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. 
 
His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America&#39;s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. 
 
As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. 
 
Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. 
 
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as &quot;bipolar&quot;&nbsp;and emotionally disturbed, with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he &quot;expresed&nbsp;hatred towards everything&quot;. She was &quot;rescued&quot; by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life, most of the violence was directed towards me,&rdquo; she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. 
 
She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
In Fort Pierce on Florida&rsquo;s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. 
 
&quot;He hardly had any friends,&quot; Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. &quot;He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.&quot; 
 
Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he did&nbsp;not&nbsp;display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. 
 
Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent, but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. 
 
A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. 
 
Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. 
 
King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. 
 
&ldquo;What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.&quot; 
 
While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and &quot;got really buff,&quot; King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. &ldquo;Something must have changed&quot; since he last saw him, he added. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. 
 
FBI interviews 
 
The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. 
 
At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world&#39;s largest private security firms. 
 
He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. 
 
G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. 
 
Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was &ldquo;unable to verify the substance of his comments,&rdquo; Hopper said. 
 
Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. &quot;Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he&rsquo;d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,&quot; Kime said. 
 
Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen&#39;s at G4S, said that Mateen&#39;s anger was &quot;constant.&quot; 
 
&quot;Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,&quot; he said. 
 
In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. 
 
Hopper said Mateen&rsquo;s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that &ldquo;he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.&rdquo; 
 
&#39;Not a stable person&#39; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday&rsquo;s attack. 
 
He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. 
 
Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. 
 
&quot;He was not a stable person,&quot; she said. &quot;He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn&#39;t finished or something like that.&quot; 
 
Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. 
 
City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen&#39;s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.</div>

Wife of the gunman, who shot down at least 50 at a gay club in Orlando, said he was 'bipolar' and often beat her

The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America's worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as "bipolar" and emotionally disturbed, with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he "expresed hatred towards everything". She was "rescued" by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. "He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life, most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. "He hardly had any friends," Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. "He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave." Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he did not display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent, but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us." While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and "got really buff," King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed" since he last saw him, he added. Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. FBI interviews The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world's largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. "Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder," Kime said. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen's at G4S, said that Mateen's anger was "constant." "Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words," he said. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” 'Not a stable person' Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen's former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. "He was not a stable person," she said. "He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that." Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen's apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Orlando shooting: Gunman described as 'quiet', but grew hateful, anti-gay

The photo from Omar Mateen&rsquo;s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. 
 
His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America&#39;s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. 
 
As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. 
 
Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. 
 
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as &quot;bipolar,&quot; and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would &quot;express hatred towards everything&quot;. She was &quot;rescued&quot; by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,&rdquo; she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. 
 
She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
In Fort Pierce on Florida&rsquo;s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. 
 
&quot;He hardly had any friends,&quot; Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. &quot;He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.&quot; 
 
Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn&#39;t display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. 
 
Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. 
 
A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. 
 
Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. 
 
King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. 
 
&ldquo;What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.&quot; 
 
While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and &quot;got really buff,&quot; King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. &ldquo;Something must have changed&quot; since he last saw him, he added. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. 
 
FBI INTERVIEWS 
 
The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. 
 
At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world&#39;s largest private security firms. 
 
He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. 
 
G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. 
 
Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was &ldquo;unable to verify the substance of his comments,&rdquo; Hopper said. 
 
Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. &quot;Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he&rsquo;d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,&quot; Kime said. 
 
Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen&#39;s at G4S, said that Mateen&#39;s anger was &quot;constant.&quot; 
 
&quot;Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,&quot; he said. 
 
In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. 
 
Hopper said Mateen&rsquo;s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that &ldquo;he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.&rdquo; 
 
&#39;NOT A STABLE PERSON&#39; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday&rsquo;s attack. 
 
He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. 
 
Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. 
 
&quot;He was not a stable person,&quot; she said. &quot;He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn&#39;t finished or something like that.&quot; 
 
Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. 
 
City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen&#39;s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Wife of the gunman, who killed at least 50 people in a shooting rampage at a gay club in Orlando, said he was 'bipolar' and often beat her

The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America's worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as "bipolar," and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would "express hatred towards everything". She was "rescued" by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. "He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. "He hardly had any friends," Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. "He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave." Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn't display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us." While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and "got really buff," King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed" since he last saw him, he added. Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. FBI INTERVIEWS The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world's largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. "Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder," Kime said. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen's at G4S, said that Mateen's anger was "constant." "Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words," he said. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” 'NOT A STABLE PERSON' Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen's former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. "He was not a stable person," she said. "He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that." Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen's apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Orlando shooting: gunman described as 'quiet', but grew hateful, anti-gay

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an online audio message, pledged allegiance to the new head of the Afghan Taliban, who was appointed last month after his predecessor was killed in a US drone strike. 
 
The veteran Islamist militant became al-Qaeda&#39;s leader after US Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. He is thought to be hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region having been based there since the late 1990s. 
 
&quot;As leader of the al-Qaeda organisation for jihad I extend my pledge of allegiance once again to the approach of Osama to invite the Muslim nation to support the Islamic Emirate,&quot; al-Zawahri said in a 14-minute recording. 
 
During its years in power, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and it has been fighting an insurgency since to regain control of the country. 
 
The authenticity of the recording could not be immediately verified. 
 
Haibatullah Akhundzada, Islamic legal scholar who was one of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour&#39;s deputies, was appointed a few days after Mansour was killed by a US drone attack in a remote border area just inside Pakistan. 
 
Since al-Zawahri, an Egyptian doctor-turned-militant, succeeded bin Laden, al-Qaeda has lost ground to the Islamic State in the leadership of the global jihadist movement. 
 
Some Afghan insurgent commanders have broken away from the Taliban to pledge support for Islamic State, despite it operating largely in Iraq and Syria, and parts of North Africa. 
 
Al-Qaeda was set up by Arab guerrillas who flocked to Afghanistan to fight Soviet occupation forces in the 1980s. It had thrived under the Taliban&#39;s rule before both groups were driven underground following the US invasion that followed Al-Qaeda&#39;s September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The al-Qaeda leader is following Osama Bin Laden's approach to support the Taliban to regain ground in the global jihadist movement

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an online audio message, pledged allegiance to the new head of the Afghan Taliban, who was appointed last month after his predecessor was killed in a US drone strike. The veteran Islamist militant became al-Qaeda's leader after US Navy Seals killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. He is thought to be hiding in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region having been based there since the late 1990s. "As leader of the al-Qaeda organisation for jihad I extend my pledge of allegiance once again to the approach of Osama to invite the Muslim nation to support the Islamic Emirate," al-Zawahri said in a 14-minute recording. During its years in power, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and it has been fighting an insurgency since to regain control of the country. The authenticity of the recording could not be immediately verified. Haibatullah Akhundzada, Islamic legal scholar who was one of former leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour's deputies, was appointed a few days after Mansour was killed by a US drone attack in a remote border area just inside Pakistan. Since al-Zawahri, an Egyptian doctor-turned-militant, succeeded bin Laden, al-Qaeda has lost ground to the Islamic State in the leadership of the global jihadist movement. Some Afghan insurgent commanders have broken away from the Taliban to pledge support for Islamic State, despite it operating largely in Iraq and Syria, and parts of North Africa. Al-Qaeda was set up by Arab guerrillas who flocked to Afghanistan to fight Soviet occupation forces in the 1980s. It had thrived under the Taliban's rule before both groups were driven underground following the US invasion that followed Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Al-Qaeda leader pledges allegiance to new Afghan Taliban leader

Bangladesh police have detained over 1,700, including some members of an outlawed militant outfit Jamayatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB),&nbsp;as part of a crackdown to halt the wave of brutal attacks on minorities and secular activists by Islamists, officials said today. 
 
A total of 1,740 people were detained after top police officials decided at a meeting on Thursday to launch an anti-militant drive. 
 
On the first day of the week-long drive, about 1,600 people were detained across the country yesterday. At least 140 people were detained today from different districts in the wake of recent killings, &#39;The Daily Star&#39; reported. 
 
Of the total 140 detainees, 88 are from Rajshahi district, 35 from Satkhira and 17 from Natore.Nine enlisted militants were among the 88 persons detained from Rajshahi, the report said. 
 
Eight of them belong to Jamayatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), while another belongs to Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), said Shariful Alam, assistant superintendent of police in Rajshahi. 
 
Bangladesh has seen a string of brutal attacks by Islamists on religious minorities and secular activists. 
 
A 60-year-old Hindu ashram worker was yesterday hacked to death by ISIS jihadists while he was out for a morning walk. This happened just days after another priest was killed by terrorists of the same outfit in the Muslim-majority nation. 
 
The latest attack came just hours after police said they launched a nationwide anti-militancy drive besides engaging the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh. 
 
The security clampdown was launched a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised to intensify a nationwide anti-terror security clampdown. 
 
In February militants stabbed to death a Hindu priest at a temple and shot and wounded a devotee who went to his aid. 
 
In April, a liberal professor was brutally hacked to death in Rajshahi city. In the same month, a Hindu tailor was hacked to death in his shop and Bangladesh&#39;s first gay magazine editor was brutally murdered along with a friend in his flat in Dhaka by Islamists.

The week-long drive was launched to arrest the growing wave of attacks on religious minorities and secular activists by Islamic militants

Bangladesh police have detained over 1,700, including some members of an outlawed militant outfit Jamayatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), as part of a crackdown to halt the wave of brutal attacks on minorities and secular activists by Islamists, officials said today. A total of 1,740 people were detained after top police officials decided at a meeting on Thursday to launch an anti-militant drive. On the first day of the week-long drive, about 1,600 people were detained across the country yesterday. At least 140 people were detained today from different districts in the wake of recent killings, 'The Daily Star' reported. Of the total 140 detainees, 88 are from Rajshahi district, 35 from Satkhira and 17 from Natore.Nine enlisted militants were among the 88 persons detained from Rajshahi, the report said. Eight of them belong to Jamayatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), while another belongs to Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), said Shariful Alam, assistant superintendent of police in Rajshahi. Bangladesh has seen a string of brutal attacks by Islamists on religious minorities and secular activists. A 60-year-old Hindu ashram worker was yesterday hacked to death by ISIS jihadists while he was out for a morning walk. This happened just days after another priest was killed by terrorists of the same outfit in the Muslim-majority nation. The latest attack came just hours after police said they launched a nationwide anti-militancy drive besides engaging the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh. The security clampdown was launched a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised to intensify a nationwide anti-terror security clampdown. In February militants stabbed to death a Hindu priest at a temple and shot and wounded a devotee who went to his aid. In April, a liberal professor was brutally hacked to death in Rajshahi city. In the same month, a Hindu tailor was hacked to death in his shop and Bangladesh's first gay magazine editor was brutally murdered along with a friend in his flat in Dhaka by Islamists.

Bangladesh cracks down on militants, detains over 1,700

Forces aligned with Libya&#39;s unity government said they had taken control of the port of Sirte, making further gains in Islamic State&#39;s North African stronghold. 
 
Brigades, largely composed of fighters from Misrata, advanced this week to the perimeter of Sirte&#39;s city centre after launching a counter attack against the Islamic State last month and driving the militant group back along the coastal road between the two cities. 
 
The brigades are part of an operation supported by Libya&#39;s UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which arrived in Tripoli in March and has been gradually working to establish its authority. 
 
Western powers see it as the best bet for trying to unite Libya&#39;s political and armed factions against the Islamic State and for restoring some stability in the oil-rich North African country. 
 
A source from the operations room in Misrata said fighters from the front line in the south of Sirte had looped round to the seafront to capture the port, which lies about 5 km (3 miles) east of the city centre. 
 
The brigades have advanced more swiftly than many expected, though their progress has been hampered by suicide bombers, mines and snipers. 
 
Clashes in Sirte on Friday left 11 brigade members dead and 35 wounded, the operations room source said. More than 100 fighters from the GNA-backed brigades have been killed and more than 500 wounded since the campaign to recapture Sirte began in early May. 
 
The Islamic State started expanding into Libya in 2014 as the political turmoil and conflict in the country worsened. It took full control of Sirte last year, but has struggled to retain territory or win support elsewhere in Libya. 
 
As the brigades based in Misrata have advanced on Sirte from the west, a separate force that controls some of Libya&#39;s key oil terminals and is also aligned with the GNA has pushed Islamic State back from the east.&nbsp;

Over 100 government fighters have been killed and more than 500 injured since the campaign to recapture the city began in early May

Forces aligned with Libya's unity government said they had taken control of the port of Sirte, making further gains in Islamic State's North African stronghold. Brigades, largely composed of fighters from Misrata, advanced this week to the perimeter of Sirte's city centre after launching a counter attack against the Islamic State last month and driving the militant group back along the coastal road between the two cities. The brigades are part of an operation supported by Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), which arrived in Tripoli in March and has been gradually working to establish its authority. Western powers see it as the best bet for trying to unite Libya's political and armed factions against the Islamic State and for restoring some stability in the oil-rich North African country. A source from the operations room in Misrata said fighters from the front line in the south of Sirte had looped round to the seafront to capture the port, which lies about 5 km (3 miles) east of the city centre. The brigades have advanced more swiftly than many expected, though their progress has been hampered by suicide bombers, mines and snipers. Clashes in Sirte on Friday left 11 brigade members dead and 35 wounded, the operations room source said. More than 100 fighters from the GNA-backed brigades have been killed and more than 500 wounded since the campaign to recapture Sirte began in early May. The Islamic State started expanding into Libya in 2014 as the political turmoil and conflict in the country worsened. It took full control of Sirte last year, but has struggled to retain territory or win support elsewhere in Libya. As the brigades based in Misrata have advanced on Sirte from the west, a separate force that controls some of Libya's key oil terminals and is also aligned with the GNA has pushed Islamic State back from the east.

Libyan forces claim Sirte port from Islamic State

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of a Hindu monastery worker who was stabbed to death in Bangladesh, a monitoring service tracking militant online activity reported a day after the slaying. 
 
It was the third killing of a member of religious minorities in the majority-Muslim country that the group has taken responsibility for in the past week. 
 
The claim was carried by Islamic State&#39;s Amaq news agency, Site Intelligence Group, a US-based monitoring service said today. 
 
Police said unidentified assailants attacked Nitya Ranjan Pandey, 60, while he was walking in the northwestern district of Pabna early on Friday morning. 
 
&quot;He was found lying in a pool of blood,&quot; district police chief Alamgir Kabir said, adding that no one saw the attackers. 
 
Hundreds of suspects have been held across the country after police launched a week-long crackdown on militants after a wave of gruesome killings. 
 
In the past week alone, an elderly Hindu priest and a Christian shopkeeper were hacked to death - both of which Islamic State claimed responsibility for. The Muslim wife of a counter-terrorism police official was also killed. 
 
Militants have killed more than 30 people in Bangladesh, including members of religious minorities, liberal bloggers and academics, since February last year. 
 
According to SITE, the&nbsp;Islamic State has claimed responsibility for 21 of the attacks since its first claim in September last year and al-Qaeda has claimed most of the rest. 
 
The government denies either group having a presence in Bangladesh and says domestic militants are responsible. 
 
Five suspected members of the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen were killed in shootouts after the woman was stabbed and shot dead on Sunday. 
 
Last month, police announced $23,000 in rewards for information leading to the arrest of six militants of Ansarullah Bangla Team, another outlawed group they believe is behind the violence. 
 
Analysts say a climate of intolerance in Bangladeshi politics has both motivated and provided cover for perpetrators of religious hate crimes. 
 
The government blames the growing violence on political opponents linked to Islamist parties, that it accuses of creating chaos and preventing courts from going ahead with war crimes trials related to the 1971 war of independence.

A Hindu priest and a Christian shopkeeper were hacked to death by the Islamic State

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of a Hindu monastery worker who was stabbed to death in Bangladesh, a monitoring service tracking militant online activity reported a day after the slaying. It was the third killing of a member of religious minorities in the majority-Muslim country that the group has taken responsibility for in the past week. The claim was carried by Islamic State's Amaq news agency, Site Intelligence Group, a US-based monitoring service said today. Police said unidentified assailants attacked Nitya Ranjan Pandey, 60, while he was walking in the northwestern district of Pabna early on Friday morning. "He was found lying in a pool of blood," district police chief Alamgir Kabir said, adding that no one saw the attackers. Hundreds of suspects have been held across the country after police launched a week-long crackdown on militants after a wave of gruesome killings. In the past week alone, an elderly Hindu priest and a Christian shopkeeper were hacked to death - both of which Islamic State claimed responsibility for. The Muslim wife of a counter-terrorism police official was also killed. Militants have killed more than 30 people in Bangladesh, including members of religious minorities, liberal bloggers and academics, since February last year. According to SITE, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for 21 of the attacks since its first claim in September last year and al-Qaeda has claimed most of the rest. The government denies either group having a presence in Bangladesh and says domestic militants are responsible. Five suspected members of the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen were killed in shootouts after the woman was stabbed and shot dead on Sunday. Last month, police announced $23,000 in rewards for information leading to the arrest of six militants of Ansarullah Bangla Team, another outlawed group they believe is behind the violence. Analysts say a climate of intolerance in Bangladeshi politics has both motivated and provided cover for perpetrators of religious hate crimes. The government blames the growing violence on political opponents linked to Islamist parties, that it accuses of creating chaos and preventing courts from going ahead with war crimes trials related to the 1971 war of independence.

Islamic State claims third attack in week on Bangladesh minorities

More than 22 people were killed and 70 wounded in two separate bombings&nbsp;in Baghdad today, one targeting a commercial street and the other an army checkpoint, Iraqi police said.

The attacks came&nbsp;as Iraqi forces were&nbsp;trying to dislodge Islamic State militants from Falluja, their stronghold just west of Baghdad.

A car packed with explosive blew up in a commercial street of Baghdad al-Jadeeda (New Baghdad), an eastern district of the capital, killing at least 15 people and wounding over 50, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomb also targeted a main army checkpoint in Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing seven soldiers and wounding more than 20 others, he said. 
 
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had announced the start of an offensive to liberate Falluja from the Islamic State, which captured the city two years ago,&nbsp;on May 22. A lot of people have been trying to flee the city as both&nbsp;the&nbsp;Iraqi army and the Islamic State continue&nbsp;to fight to wrest control of Falluja.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The attacks came as Iraqi forces were trying to dislodge Islamic militants from Falluja

More than 22 people were killed and 70 wounded in two separate bombings in Baghdad today, one targeting a commercial street and the other an army checkpoint, Iraqi police said. The attacks came as Iraqi forces were trying to dislodge Islamic State militants from Falluja, their stronghold just west of Baghdad. A car packed with explosive blew up in a commercial street of Baghdad al-Jadeeda (New Baghdad), an eastern district of the capital, killing at least 15 people and wounding over 50, a police officer said. A suicide car bomb also targeted a main army checkpoint in Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing seven soldiers and wounding more than 20 others, he said. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had announced the start of an offensive to liberate Falluja from the Islamic State, which captured the city two years ago, on May 22. A lot of people have been trying to flee the city as both the Iraqi army and the Islamic State continue to fight to wrest control of Falluja.

More than 22 killed, 70 wounded in two bombings in Baghdad

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