Tanzanian police have said that about 300 jihadists launched a cross-border attack from Mozambique last week, confirming an earlier claim by the Islamic State group.&nbsp;

"It's true that about 300 terrorists from Mozambique attacked our station at Kitaya in (southern) Mtwara last week and killed some people," said police chief Simon Sirro in a videotaped press conference viewed by AFP Thursday.

Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), affiliated with the Islamic State group, last week claimed it had mounted an attack in Mtwara, near the Mozambican border, on October 14.

The group has carried out a wave of attacks in Mozambique since 2017, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing 250,000, according to conflict data provider ACLED.&nbsp;

Tanzania is set to hold a presidential election on October 28.

Tanzanian police have said that about 300 jihadists launched a cross-border attack from Mozambique last week, confirming an earlier claim by the Islamic State group.

Tanzanian police have said that about 300 jihadists launched a cross-border attack from Mozambique last week, confirming an earlier claim by the Islamic State group. "It's true that about 300 terrorists from Mozambique attacked our station at Kitaya in (southern) Mtwara last week and killed some people," said police chief Simon Sirro in a videotaped press conference viewed by AFP Thursday. Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), affiliated with the Islamic State group, last week claimed it had mounted an attack in Mtwara, near the Mozambican border, on October 14. The group has carried out a wave of attacks in Mozambique since 2017, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing 250,000, according to conflict data provider ACLED. Tanzania is set to hold a presidential election on October 28.

Tanzania hit by recent IS attack near Mozambique border: police

A Swiss woman who has been been killed in Mali is being claimed to be the same&nbsp;missionary who was abducted in 2016.

The foreign ministry said&nbsp;Beatrice Stoeckli was a missionary who belonged to Basel and worked in&nbsp;Timbuktu. She was abducted from&nbsp;Timbuktu four years ago.

However, it has also been revealed that she was earlier, too, abducted by jihadists group in 2012, but was rescued. Later, when she was abducted in 2016, authorities were unable to rescue her.

The&nbsp;Islamist terrorist organization behind this&nbsp;is Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/french-italian-captives-freed-with-top-politician-in-mali-333710/amp">Also read:&nbsp;Kidnapped Mali politician, French aid worker and two Italians freed</a>

The foreign ministry said the French authorities had informed them of Stoeckli's fate based on what French hostage Sophie Petronin, who was released earlier this week, had told them.

Petronin who was&nbsp;being held captive by the jihadist group had&nbsp;arrived back in France after four years. She&nbsp;was released by her captors along with a prominent Malian politician, Soumaila Cisse, and two Italian hostages.

Mali announced the release of Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin and Malian politician Soumaila Cisse on Thursday, alongside two Italian nationals.

A Swiss woman who has been been killed in Mali is being claimed to be the same missionary who was abducted in 2016. The foreign ministry said Beatrice Stoeckli was a missionary who belonged to Basel and worked in Timbuktu.

A Swiss woman who has been been killed in Mali is being claimed to be the same missionary who was abducted in 2016. The foreign ministry said Beatrice Stoeckli was a missionary who belonged to Basel and worked in Timbuktu. She was abducted from Timbuktu four years ago. However, it has also been revealed that she was earlier, too, abducted by jihadists group in 2012, but was rescued. Later, when she was abducted in 2016, authorities were unable to rescue her. The Islamist terrorist organization behind this is Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen. Also read: Kidnapped Mali politician, French aid worker and two Italians freed The foreign ministry said the French authorities had informed them of Stoeckli's fate based on what French hostage Sophie Petronin, who was released earlier this week, had told them. Petronin who was being held captive by the jihadist group had arrived back in France after four years. She was released by her captors along with a prominent Malian politician, Soumaila Cisse, and two Italian hostages. Mali announced the release of Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin and Malian politician Soumaila Cisse on Thursday, alongside two Italian nationals.

Swiss woman killed by jihadist group was a missionary

Afghan authorities were searching Tuesday for about 270 inmates, most of them Islamic State fighters, who remained on the loose after escaping during a deadly prison raid.

At least 29 people were killed when Islamic State (IS) gunmen attacked the facility in Jalalabad on Sunday, with fierce fighting lasting until Monday afternoon.

More than 1,300 inmates tried to escape, a senior Afghan security official said but most were either swiftly re-arrested or surrendered when surrounded by security forces.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghan-grand-assembly-to-decide-fate-of-taliban-prisoners-on-friday-318105" hreflang="en">Afghan grand assembly to decide fate of Taliban prisoners on Friday</a>

But some 270 prisoners are "still on the loose", the official said.

"Most of those who escaped are from ISKP," he said, referring to IS's Afghan branch, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province.

They included militants responsible for several bloody attacks, a second security official told AFP.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/at-least-24-dead-in-mass-jailbreak-in-afghanistan-scores-of-prisoners-flee-317759" hreflang="en">At least 24 dead in mass jailbreak in Afghanistan, scores of prisoners flee</a>

Nangarhar provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed many prisoners were still missing, but couldn't say how many were IS members.

Officials also said that security forces had shot dead on Tuesday another group of IS fighters who had launched a mortar attack targeting Jalalabad airport from a neighbourhood in the city around the same time when the prison raid commenced.

Several mortar shells and other ammunition seized from a house in the neighbourhood were shown to journalists.

The brazen prison raid came a day after&nbsp;Afghanistan's intelligence agency announced the killing of a top IS commander near Jalalabad.

Nangarhar province, where IS got its first foothold in&nbsp;Afghanistan, has seen repeated attacks by the group, including a suicide bomb that killed 32 mourners at a funeral in May.

Calm shattered

The attacks have continued even though officials last year claimed IS had been defeated in Nangarhar.

"A large number of their leadership was arrested or killed... so it (the prison raid) was some sort of revenge to free some of their comrades," a senior Afghan security official said.

Some local officials and analysts, however, have cautioned that elements of group remained.

"They (IS) want to challenge the monopoly of the Taliban over militancy or anti-state violence in the country," said Abdul Sayed, independent researcher on jihadism in&nbsp;Afghanistan&nbsp;and Pakistan.

He said the Taliban, Kabul and Washington miscalculated about IS's defeat in&nbsp;Afghanistan.

"They (IS) now seem to have changed their strategies to (launch) high profile terrorist attacks in Nanagarhar to Kabul to provide proof of their existence," Sayed told AFP.

The prison raid shattered the relative calm of the final day of a three-day ceasefire between the Taliban and Afghan forces.

IS was not part of the truce.&nbsp;

The Afghan government still attempted to link the raid to the Taliban, which it said had violated the ceasefire 38 times.

Acting Interior Minister Massoud Andrabi said on Twitter that IS's new head in&nbsp;Afghanistan, Shahab Al-Mahajir, was a member of the Haqqani network, considered linked to the Taliban.

Washington has branded the Haqqani network, accused of carrying out numerous deadly attacks in&nbsp;Afghanistan, a terrorist organisation.

Afghan authorities were searching Tuesday for about 270 inmates, most of them Islamic State fighters, who remained on the loose after escaping during a deadly prison raid.

Afghan authorities were searching Tuesday for about 270 inmates, most of them Islamic State fighters, who remained on the loose after escaping during a deadly prison raid. At least 29 people were killed when Islamic State (IS) gunmen attacked the facility in Jalalabad on Sunday, with fierce fighting lasting until Monday afternoon. More than 1,300 inmates tried to escape, a senior Afghan security official said but most were either swiftly re-arrested or surrendered when surrounded by security forces. Also read: Afghan grand assembly to decide fate of Taliban prisoners on Friday But some 270 prisoners are "still on the loose", the official said. "Most of those who escaped are from ISKP," he said, referring to IS's Afghan branch, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province. They included militants responsible for several bloody attacks, a second security official told AFP. Also read: At least 24 dead in mass jailbreak in Afghanistan, scores of prisoners flee Nangarhar provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed many prisoners were still missing, but couldn't say how many were IS members. Officials also said that security forces had shot dead on Tuesday another group of IS fighters who had launched a mortar attack targeting Jalalabad airport from a neighbourhood in the city around the same time when the prison raid commenced. Several mortar shells and other ammunition seized from a house in the neighbourhood were shown to journalists. The brazen prison raid came a day after Afghanistan's intelligence agency announced the killing of a top IS commander near Jalalabad. Nangarhar province, where IS got its first foothold in Afghanistan, has seen repeated attacks by the group, including a suicide bomb that killed 32 mourners at a funeral in May. Calm shattered The attacks have continued even though officials last year claimed IS had been defeated in Nangarhar. "A large number of their leadership was arrested or killed... so it (the prison raid) was some sort of revenge to free some of their comrades," a senior Afghan security official said. Some local officials and analysts, however, have cautioned that elements of group remained. "They (IS) want to challenge the monopoly of the Taliban over militancy or anti-state violence in the country," said Abdul Sayed, independent researcher on jihadism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said the Taliban, Kabul and Washington miscalculated about IS's defeat in Afghanistan. "They (IS) now seem to have changed their strategies to (launch) high profile terrorist attacks in Nanagarhar to Kabul to provide proof of their existence," Sayed told AFP. The prison raid shattered the relative calm of the final day of a three-day ceasefire between the Taliban and Afghan forces. IS was not part of the truce. The Afghan government still attempted to link the raid to the Taliban, which it said had violated the ceasefire 38 times. Acting Interior Minister Massoud Andrabi said on Twitter that IS's new head in Afghanistan, Shahab Al-Mahajir, was a member of the Haqqani network, considered linked to the Taliban. Washington has branded the Haqqani network, accused of carrying out numerous deadly attacks in Afghanistan, a terrorist organisation.

Islamic State jihadists on the run after Afghan prison raid

Jihadists have killed 10 people in a raid on a village in northeast Nigeria's restive Borno State, burning homes and looting food supplies, civilian militia sources said Sunday.

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents in trucks fitted with machine guns stormed into Rumirgo village in the Askira Uba district at 1740 GMT on Saturday, shooting indiscriminately and sending residents fleeing into the surrounding countryside.

"They killed 10 people in the indiscriminate shooting which made residents run into the bush" civilian militia member Adamu Galadima said.

The militants burnt a dozen homes, carted away food supplies and two "trailers loaded with foodstuffs," another militiaman, Peter Malgwui said.

Askira Uba lies close to the Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram enclaves dwell and has suffered repeated attacks.

Yet in recent months an Islamic State group-aligned faction of Boko Haram has been waging attacks.

Last month three Nigerian soldiers were killed in clashes with fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction in Askira Uba town.

A decade of Boko Haram violence has killed 36,000 people in the northeast and displaced around two million from their homes, creating a severe humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military response to combat the jihadist groups.

Jihadists have killed 10 people in a raid on a village in northeast Nigeria's restive Borno State, burning homes and looting food supplies, civilian militia sources said Sunday.

Jihadists have killed 10 people in a raid on a village in northeast Nigeria's restive Borno State, burning homes and looting food supplies, civilian militia sources said Sunday. Suspected Boko Haram insurgents in trucks fitted with machine guns stormed into Rumirgo village in the Askira Uba district at 1740 GMT on Saturday, shooting indiscriminately and sending residents fleeing into the surrounding countryside. "They killed 10 people in the indiscriminate shooting which made residents run into the bush" civilian militia member Adamu Galadima said. The militants burnt a dozen homes, carted away food supplies and two "trailers loaded with foodstuffs," another militiaman, Peter Malgwui said. Askira Uba lies close to the Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram enclaves dwell and has suffered repeated attacks. Yet in recent months an Islamic State group-aligned faction of Boko Haram has been waging attacks. Last month three Nigerian soldiers were killed in clashes with fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction in Askira Uba town. A decade of Boko Haram violence has killed 36,000 people in the northeast and displaced around two million from their homes, creating a severe humanitarian crisis. The conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military response to combat the jihadist groups.

Jihadists kill 10 in northeast Nigerian village

Israeli fighter jets launched airstrikes on suspected Islamic Jihad positions in Syria, the Israeli military said on Monday, after the militant group and Israel exchanged rockets and airstrikes around Gaza.

Israeli fighter jets launched airstrikes on suspected Islamic Jihad positions in Syria, the Israeli military said on Monday, after the militant group and Israel exchanged rockets and airstrikes around Gaza. An Israeli military statement said its forces had "struck Islamic Jihad terror targets south of Damascus" in addition to "dozens" of Islamic Jihad targets throughout the Gaza Strip. The airstrike in the Adeliyah region outside Damascus targeted what the Israeli military called "a hub of Islamic Jihad's activity in Syria," including the research and development of weapons. [ Iron Dome anti-missile system fires interception missiles as rockets are launched from Gaza towards Israel (Courtesy: Reuters) ] Also Read: Israeli warplanes hit Hamas in Gaza after border fire The Israeli announcement came shortly after Syrian state media said its air defences had intercepted "hostile targets" over the Syrian capital, Damascus. The strike escalated the latest round of hostilities, which began around dawn on Sunday, when, Israel said, its troops killed an Islamic Jihad member who was trying to plant explosives near Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip. Watch: Benjamin Netanyahu rushed offstage as rocket fired from Gaza into Israel Islamic Jihad fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza into Israel, setting off air-raid sirens in communities such as Ashkelon. Israel hit back with a series of airstrikes in Gaza. The rockets sent residents of southern Israel running for shelters. Some of the rocket fire was intercepted by Israeli aerial missile defences, and there were no reports of any Israelis injured. The Israeli military said that among the "dozens" of targets struck in Gaza were underground infrastructure and compounds in Rafah that had been used to store raw material used for manufacturing rockets. Also Read: Israel strikes Hamas targets after new Gaza rocket fire [ Aftermath of Israeli airstrikes (Courtesy: Reuters) ] Shortly before midnight on Sunday, the Syrian state news agency SANA quoted a military source saying that Israeli planes had entered Syrian airspace and targeted areas around Damascus with a wave of guided missiles. Syrian state-run al-Ikhbariya TV aired footage of what it said were explosions set off in the Damascus night sky by the air defence system shooting down missiles. The Syrian military source said most missiles were destroyed before reaching their targets and that the aftermath of the strike was being examined. Israel says it has carried out hundreds of strikes against targets in Syria in recent years. In November, Islamic Jihad said Israel had targeted the house of one of its officials in Damascus, killing one of his sons.

Israeli strike in Damascus killed 2 Islamic Jihad members: Group

Seven soldiers were killed on Tuesday when Islamic State-affiliated militants&nbsp;attacked a military position in northeastern Nigeria, two military sources stated.

Fighters in several trucks fitted with machine guns attacked a military position in Mainok village, 56 kilometres (35 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, they said on Wednesday

"We lost seven men in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/today-tonight-nigerias-bandit-conflict-274334">attack by the terrorists</a>. Two soldiers went missing and five soldiers were injured," the first source said. The second source confirmed the toll, adding that the jihadists destroyed two military gun trucks and three anti-aircraft machine guns. Borno state police spokesman Edet Okon said in a statement that four gun trucks, including two seized from the army in the attack, had been recovered.

Also Read:&nbsp;D<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/deadliest-attack-on-nigerian-military-71-dead-268341">eadliest attack on Nigerian military, 71 dead</a>

<img alt="Nigeria Police" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c6a7064e-8cb1-497f-a195-a75711a0403d" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2862%29.jpg" /> 
[ Nigerian Police officer (Courtesy: AFP) ]

The assailants are suspected <a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/259-people-freed-from-abusive-islamic-rehabilitation-centre-by-nigerian-police-260348">members of the Islamic State</a> West Africa Province (ISWAP), a group that split from Boko Haram in 2016 and has stepped attacks against the military since mid-2018.

The group has increasingly been abducting motorists at bogus checkpoints in Borno state, targeting security personnel, anti-jihadist militia and Christians.

Mainok lies along the 120-km highway linking Maiduguri and Damaturu, the capital of neighbouring Yobe state. The village has suffered a rise in jihadist abductions, prompting increased military deployments. Last week Wednesday four soldiers were killed and seven injured when ISWAP militants attacked troops in Auno village along the same highway, days after 11 troops were killed in nearby Jakana village.

The decade-long conflict has killed 35,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.&nbsp;The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.

Seven soldiers were killed on Tuesday when Islamic State-affiliated militants attacked a military position in northeastern Nigeria, two military sources stated. Fighters in several trucks fitted with machine guns attacked a military position in Mainok village, 56 kilometres (35 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, they said on Wednesday "We lost seven men in the attack by the terrorists.

Seven soldiers were killed on Tuesday when Islamic State-affiliated militants attacked a military position in northeastern Nigeria, two military sources stated. Fighters in several trucks fitted with machine guns attacked a military position in Mainok village, 56 kilometres (35 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, they said on Wednesday "We lost seven men in the attack by the terrorists. Two soldiers went missing and five soldiers were injured," the first source said. The second source confirmed the toll, adding that the jihadists destroyed two military gun trucks and three anti-aircraft machine guns. Borno state police spokesman Edet Okon said in a statement that four gun trucks, including two seized from the army in the attack, had been recovered. Also Read: Deadliest attack on Nigerian military, 71 dead [ Nigerian Police officer (Courtesy: AFP) ] The assailants are suspected members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a group that split from Boko Haram in 2016 and has stepped attacks against the military since mid-2018. The group has increasingly been abducting motorists at bogus checkpoints in Borno state, targeting security personnel, anti-jihadist militia and Christians. Mainok lies along the 120-km highway linking Maiduguri and Damaturu, the capital of neighbouring Yobe state. The village has suffered a rise in jihadist abductions, prompting increased military deployments. Last week Wednesday four soldiers were killed and seven injured when ISWAP militants attacked troops in Auno village along the same highway, days after 11 troops were killed in nearby Jakana village. The decade-long conflict has killed 35,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria. The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.

Seven Nigerian troops killed after attack

A militant attack in northern Burkina Faso on Tuesday killed 35 civilians, almost all of them women, the president said, one of the deadliest assaults in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country. #WION #WestAfricancountry #Burkina Faso #jihadist violence

35 civilians, 87 terrorists killed in militant attack in Burkina Faso

Thirteen French soldiers fighting jihadists in Mali killed in helicopter crash

Dutch police on Tuesday arrested two women who joined the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/afghanistans-president-claims-victory-over-islamic-state-263202">Islamic State</a> group in Syria after they were deported by Turkey to the Netherlands, prosecutors said.

The women, one of whom has two young children, were being held on terror charges following their arrival at Amsterdam's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amsterdams-schiphol-airport-temporarily-closed-after-power-outage-133603">Schiphol Airport</a>, the prosecution service said in a statement.&nbsp;

Turkey began deporting foreign&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/jihadists-kill-four-nigerian-troops-sources-263148">jihadists</a> last week and has criticised Western countries for refusing to repatriate their citizens who left to join IS in Syria and Iraq.

"Two women who have returned from the battlefield of Islamic State in Syria have been deported by Turkey and arrested Tuesday evening on arrival at Schiphol airport," the Dutch prosecutors said.

"They are suspected of participating in a terrorist organisation. The Royal Military Police (who guard airports and ports) arrested the women and handed them over to the police."

One of those arrested was a 23-year-old woman with two children aged three and four, who had been detained in January 2018 in Turkey, prosecutors said.&nbsp;

The other was a 25-year-old woman who had reported to the Dutch embassy in Ankara in October and asked for consular assistance to return.

The pair will appear before magistrates in the port city of Rotterdam on Friday, the prosecutors said.

Earlier this month a Dutch court said the government must "actively" help repatriate children of women who joined the Islamic State group in Syria but the mothers themselves need not be taken back.

The ruling came after lawyers representing 23 jihadist women launched a lawsuit last week demanding the Netherlands return them and their 56 children from detention camps in northern Syria.

Dutch police on Tuesday arrested two women who joined the Islamic State group in Syria after they were deported by Turkey to the Netherlands, prosecutors said. The women, one of whom has two young children, were being held on terror charges following their arrival at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, the prosecution service said in a statement.

Dutch police on Tuesday arrested two women who joined the Islamic State group in Syria after they were deported by Turkey to the Netherlands, prosecutors said. The women, one of whom has two young children, were being held on terror charges following their arrival at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, the prosecution service said in a statement. Turkey began deporting foreign jihadists last week and has criticised Western countries for refusing to repatriate their citizens who left to join IS in Syria and Iraq. "Two women who have returned from the battlefield of Islamic State in Syria have been deported by Turkey and arrested Tuesday evening on arrival at Schiphol airport," the Dutch prosecutors said. "They are suspected of participating in a terrorist organisation. The Royal Military Police (who guard airports and ports) arrested the women and handed them over to the police." One of those arrested was a 23-year-old woman with two children aged three and four, who had been detained in January 2018 in Turkey, prosecutors said. The other was a 25-year-old woman who had reported to the Dutch embassy in Ankara in October and asked for consular assistance to return. The pair will appear before magistrates in the port city of Rotterdam on Friday, the prosecutors said. Earlier this month a Dutch court said the government must "actively" help repatriate children of women who joined the Islamic State group in Syria but the mothers themselves need not be taken back. The ruling came after lawyers representing 23 jihadist women launched a lawsuit last week demanding the Netherlands return them and their 56 children from detention camps in northern Syria.

Dutch police arrest two female Islamic State members

Turkey will start sending foreign jihadists back to their home countries next week, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told state news agency Anadolu on Friday.

"Now we are telling you that we are going to send them back to you. We are starting this on Monday," Soylu said, referring to members of the Islamic State group (IS).

Earlier this week, Soylu said Turkey had nearly 1,200 foreign members of IS in custody and had captured 287 during its recent operation in northern Syria.

Turkey has criticised Western countries for refusing to repatriate their citizens who left to join IS in Syria and Iraq and stripping some of them of their citizenship.&nbsp;

It remains unclear whether Turkey will be able to repatriate those who have lost their citizenship.&nbsp;

Although under the New York Convention of 1961, it is illegal to leave someone stateless, several countries, including Britain and France, have not ratified it, and recent cases have triggered prolonged legal battles.&nbsp;

Britain has stripped more than 100 people of their citizenship for allegedly joining jihadist groups abroad.&nbsp;

High-profile cases such as teenage IS recruit Shamima Begum, and another alleged recruit Jack Letts, have sparked court proceedings and fierce political debate in Britain.&nbsp;

Turkey will start sending foreign jihadists back to their home countries next week, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told state news agency Anadolu on Friday. "Now we are telling you that we are going to send them back to you.

Turkey will start sending foreign jihadists back to their home countries next week, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told state news agency Anadolu on Friday. "Now we are telling you that we are going to send them back to you. We are starting this on Monday," Soylu said, referring to members of the Islamic State group (IS). Earlier this week, Soylu said Turkey had nearly 1,200 foreign members of IS in custody and had captured 287 during its recent operation in northern Syria. Turkey has criticised Western countries for refusing to repatriate their citizens who left to join IS in Syria and Iraq and stripping some of them of their citizenship. It remains unclear whether Turkey will be able to repatriate those who have lost their citizenship. Although under the New York Convention of 1961, it is illegal to leave someone stateless, several countries, including Britain and France, have not ratified it, and recent cases have triggered prolonged legal battles. Britain has stripped more than 100 people of their citizenship for allegedly joining jihadist groups abroad. High-profile cases such as teenage IS recruit Shamima Begum, and another alleged recruit Jack Letts, have sparked court proceedings and fierce political debate in Britain.

Turkey to send foreign Islamic State jihadists home from Monday: Minister

A French court on Monday sentenced five members of an all-female jihadist cell to between five and 30 years in prison over a failed bid to detonate a car bomb outside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.

The case is the first to involve a group of women attempting to stage an attack in France, which has been repeatedly targeted by jihadists since 2015, causing the loss of 255 lives.

The five women, aged between 22 and 42, were arrested after a car packed with gas cylinders was found parked near the bustling esplanade in front of the cathedral in the heart of the capital on November 4, 2016.

The two main defendants, Ines Madani and Ornella Gilligmann, had doused the car with diesel in the middle of the night and tried but failed to set it alight with a cigarette.

They were sentenced to 30 years and 25 years in prison respectively.

The women are believed to have been acting on the orders of Rachid Kassim, a French Islamic State (IS) propagandist also suspected of ordering the grisly murder of a French police couple at their home in June 2016.

Kassim is believed to have been killed in an air strike near the Iraqi city of Mosul in February 2017.

Madani, 22, was arrested a few days after the failed attack in a Paris suburb along with two other defendants, Sarah Hervouet and Amel Sakaou, who were each sentenced to 20 years.

The three burst out of the apartment to which they had been tracked down by police, brandishing knives.

Hervouet stabbed an officer in the shoulder, while Madani was shot in the leg.

Gilligmann was arrested in southern France.

A fifth woman, Samia Chalel, was also tried for allegedly helping hide Madani. She was sentenced to five years in prison.

The court heard how Madani posed as a male jihadist online to try recruit women for IS and won over Gilligmann in messages exchanged online.

Madani's lawyers described her as a lonely young woman with half-baked attack plans and a death wish -- a far cry from the prosecution's characterisation of a determined gang of would-be killers.

Madani told the court on Monday she regretted her actions.

"At the time all my plans involved death. Today, my plans are about life," she said.

Gilligmann, a married mother of three, spoke emotionally of the "shame" she had brought on her family and asked for forgiveness from the victims of terrorism.

Her lawyers argued she had acted out of love for a fictitious jihadist named Abou Junayd, for whom she left her husband.

A French court on Monday sentenced five members of an all-female jihadist cell to between five and 30 years in prison over a failed bid to detonate a car bomb outside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.

A French court on Monday sentenced five members of an all-female jihadist cell to between five and 30 years in prison over a failed bid to detonate a car bomb outside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The case is the first to involve a group of women attempting to stage an attack in France, which has been repeatedly targeted by jihadists since 2015, causing the loss of 255 lives. The five women, aged between 22 and 42, were arrested after a car packed with gas cylinders was found parked near the bustling esplanade in front of the cathedral in the heart of the capital on November 4, 2016. The two main defendants, Ines Madani and Ornella Gilligmann, had doused the car with diesel in the middle of the night and tried but failed to set it alight with a cigarette. They were sentenced to 30 years and 25 years in prison respectively. The women are believed to have been acting on the orders of Rachid Kassim, a French Islamic State (IS) propagandist also suspected of ordering the grisly murder of a French police couple at their home in June 2016. Kassim is believed to have been killed in an air strike near the Iraqi city of Mosul in February 2017. Madani, 22, was arrested a few days after the failed attack in a Paris suburb along with two other defendants, Sarah Hervouet and Amel Sakaou, who were each sentenced to 20 years. The three burst out of the apartment to which they had been tracked down by police, brandishing knives. Hervouet stabbed an officer in the shoulder, while Madani was shot in the leg. Gilligmann was arrested in southern France. A fifth woman, Samia Chalel, was also tried for allegedly helping hide Madani. She was sentenced to five years in prison. The court heard how Madani posed as a male jihadist online to try recruit women for IS and won over Gilligmann in messages exchanged online. Madani's lawyers described her as a lonely young woman with half-baked attack plans and a death wish -- a far cry from the prosecution's characterisation of a determined gang of would-be killers. Madani told the court on Monday she regretted her actions. "At the time all my plans involved death. Today, my plans are about life," she said. Gilligmann, a married mother of three, spoke emotionally of the "shame" she had brought on her family and asked for forgiveness from the victims of terrorism. Her lawyers argued she had acted out of love for a fictitious jihadist named Abou Junayd, for whom she left her husband.

French female jihadist gang sentenced to up to 30 years in jail

A Sri Lankan court Tuesday rejected prosecution demands that the country's police chief and a top defence official face murder charges for failing to prevent the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/multiple-blasts-in-sri-lanka-churches-hit-during-easter-sunday-mass-212200">Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks</a>.

Police Inspector General Pujith Jayasundara and former defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando were represented in court after being arrested last week on charges their negligence led to the attacks that killed 258 people.

State prosecutor Dappula de Livera said their negligence amounted to "grave crimes against humanity" and they should face murder charges, but <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/shangri-la-hotel-in-colombo-to-reopen-on-june-12-after-deadly-easter-attacks-226035">Colombo magistrate Lanka </a>Jayaratne said there was not enough evidence they failed to act on warnings about the bombings by militant Muslims.

Both men who are undergoing medical treatment at two hospitals and were not present in court. They were represented by lawyers and released on bail, but could still face further charges.

Jayasundara is the most senior police official to be arrested in the 152-year history of the force.

Another nine senior officers have also been named by the attorney general as suspects who should be prosecuted for security lapses over the attacks.

Indian intelligence passed on warnings about the Easter Sunday attacks gleaned from a jihadist in Indian custody, but Sri Lankan authorities did not take the threats seriously.

The first Indian warning was given on April 4, more than two-and-a-half weeks before the bombings, which the Islamic State group said it backed.

Local Muslim groups also alerted police and intelligence units over the threat posed by radical cleric Zahran Hashim, who led the suicide bombings.

The fallout from the attacks has turned into a major political battle.

Jayasundara and Fernando have testified to a parliamentary inquiry that President Maithripala Sirisena failed to follow established protocols in assessing national security threats ahead of the bombings.

They also alleged that Sirisena &nbsp;who is also minister of defence as well as law and order &nbsp;did not take the threats seriously.

Sirisena insists he had no warning of the attacks and has ordered police not to co-operate with the inquiry.

A Sri Lankan court Tuesday rejected prosecution demands that the country's police chief and a top defence official face murder charges for failing to prevent the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks.

A Sri Lankan court Tuesday rejected prosecution demands that the country's police chief and a top defence official face murder charges for failing to prevent the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks. Police Inspector General Pujith Jayasundara and former defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando were represented in court after being arrested last week on charges their negligence led to the attacks that killed 258 people. State prosecutor Dappula de Livera said their negligence amounted to "grave crimes against humanity" and they should face murder charges, but Colombo magistrate Lanka Jayaratne said there was not enough evidence they failed to act on warnings about the bombings by militant Muslims. Both men who are undergoing medical treatment at two hospitals and were not present in court. They were represented by lawyers and released on bail, but could still face further charges. Jayasundara is the most senior police official to be arrested in the 152-year history of the force. Another nine senior officers have also been named by the attorney general as suspects who should be prosecuted for security lapses over the attacks. Indian intelligence passed on warnings about the Easter Sunday attacks gleaned from a jihadist in Indian custody, but Sri Lankan authorities did not take the threats seriously. The first Indian warning was given on April 4, more than two-and-a-half weeks before the bombings, which the Islamic State group said it backed. Local Muslim groups also alerted police and intelligence units over the threat posed by radical cleric Zahran Hashim, who led the suicide bombings. The fallout from the attacks has turned into a major political battle. Jayasundara and Fernando have testified to a parliamentary inquiry that President Maithripala Sirisena failed to follow established protocols in assessing national security threats ahead of the bombings. They also alleged that Sirisena who is also minister of defence as well as law and order did not take the threats seriously. Sirisena insists he had no warning of the attacks and has ordered police not to co-operate with the inquiry.

Sri Lanka court rejects Easter bomb murder charge against officials

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/95-killed-in-attack-on-central-mali-village-226047">Mali's council of ministers has fired the governor</a> of its central Mopti region after gunmen killed dozens of people in the latest of a spate of ethnic killings there, it said in a statement.

Attackers believed to belong to the Fulani ethnic group raided a rival ethnic Dogon village in Bankass on Sunday and Monday, killing 35 people, according to the government, although a local authority maintains the real figure is 95 deaths. Neither has produced evidence for these tolls.

The government also declared three days of national mourning in the statement overnight.

"Drawing lessons from this tragedy, the council of ministers dismissed the Mopti region's governor," the statement read. Sidy Alassane Toure was the latest government official to lose his job as a result of authorities' failure to contain spiralling ethnic violence around Mopti.

After an attack in March that killed more than 150 Fulani villagers in Mali's worst act of violence in years, President Boubacar Keita dismissed two top army officials and his prime minister and entire government resigned.

The new prime minister, Boubou Cisse, visited the scene of this week's killing on Tuesday and said that among the dead were 24 children, some of whom had been shot in the back.

Violence between Dogon hunters and Fulani herders has killed hundreds since January, and the Malian government is seen as having lost its grip over parts of the country suffering jihadist infiltration.

French forces intervened in Mali, a former French colony in West Africa, in 2013 to push back a jihadist advance from the north but the militants have since regrouped and turned parts of north and central Mali into a launchpad for attacks across the region.

The militants have also proved adept at stoking tensions between rival ethnic groups, and intercommunal clashes have this year overtaken jihadist attacks as a leading cause of violent death in Mali, figures from the Armed Conflict Location &amp; Event Data Project (ACLED) show.

Malians have grown increasingly frustrated by failures of the government to protect them from both jihadist onslaughts and ethnic reprisals.

Mali's council of ministers has fired the governor of its central Mopti region after gunmen killed dozens of people in the latest of a spate of ethnic killings there, it said in a statement.

Mali's council of ministers has fired the governor of its central Mopti region after gunmen killed dozens of people in the latest of a spate of ethnic killings there, it said in a statement. Attackers believed to belong to the Fulani ethnic group raided a rival ethnic Dogon village in Bankass on Sunday and Monday, killing 35 people, according to the government, although a local authority maintains the real figure is 95 deaths. Neither has produced evidence for these tolls. The government also declared three days of national mourning in the statement overnight. "Drawing lessons from this tragedy, the council of ministers dismissed the Mopti region's governor," the statement read. Sidy Alassane Toure was the latest government official to lose his job as a result of authorities' failure to contain spiralling ethnic violence around Mopti. After an attack in March that killed more than 150 Fulani villagers in Mali's worst act of violence in years, President Boubacar Keita dismissed two top army officials and his prime minister and entire government resigned. The new prime minister, Boubou Cisse, visited the scene of this week's killing on Tuesday and said that among the dead were 24 children, some of whom had been shot in the back. Violence between Dogon hunters and Fulani herders has killed hundreds since January, and the Malian government is seen as having lost its grip over parts of the country suffering jihadist infiltration. French forces intervened in Mali, a former French colony in West Africa, in 2013 to push back a jihadist advance from the north but the militants have since regrouped and turned parts of north and central Mali into a launchpad for attacks across the region. The militants have also proved adept at stoking tensions between rival ethnic groups, and intercommunal clashes have this year overtaken jihadist attacks as a leading cause of violent death in Mali, figures from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) show. Malians have grown increasingly frustrated by failures of the government to protect them from both jihadist onslaughts and ethnic reprisals.

Mali fires regional governor after attack that killed dozens

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused both <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/46-suspected-jihadists-killed-in-sinai-clashes-egypt-army-202636">Egyptian security forces and terrorist&nbsp;of committing "war crimes"</a> in their confrontation in the restive North Sinai region.

"While Egyptian military and police forces were responsible for the majority of abuses documented in the report, extremist militants have also committed horrific crimes," the New York-based group said in a 134-page report.

"Some of the abuses carried out by government forces and the militants, which this report documents, are war crimes, and their widespread and systematic nature could amount to crimes against humanity."

HRW compiled the report over two years interviewing more than 50 residents of the Sinai Peninsula, in northeast Egypt, where independent media coverage is effectively banned and a state of emergency has been in force since 2013.

In late 2017, North Sinai was the scene of the deadliest attack in Egypt's modern history when militants killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque, without any group claiming responsibility.

Islamist militants have kidnapped and tortured scores of residents and also attacked security forces.

Security forces have likewise targeted Sinai residents arresting thousands and forcibly "disappearing" dozens, according to the HRW report.

Children as young as 12 have been detained in routine sweeps eventually being jailed in secret prisons.

Alongside the report, a video was released showing footage of air strikes on residents' homes and extrajudicial killings of suspected jihadists by security forces.

"Why all of this? Should we carry weapons and work with the militants or work with the army or live like victims? Everyone is preying on us," said a North Sinai resident interviewed for the report.

HRW called on the United States to halt all military assistance to Egypt until gross violations are fully investigated.

Egypt has for years been fighting a hardened insurgency in North Sinai, which escalated following the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Since then, hundreds of police officers and soldiers have been killed in militant attacks.

In February 2018, the army launched a nationwide operation against Islamic extremists, focused on the North Sinai.

Some 650 militants and around 45 soldiers have been killed since the start of the offensive, according to separate statements by the armed forces.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused both Egyptian security forces and terrorist of committing "war crimes" in their confrontation in the restive North Sinai region.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused both Egyptian security forces and terrorist of committing "war crimes" in their confrontation in the restive North Sinai region. "While Egyptian military and police forces were responsible for the majority of abuses documented in the report, extremist militants have also committed horrific crimes," the New York-based group said in a 134-page report. "Some of the abuses carried out by government forces and the militants, which this report documents, are war crimes, and their widespread and systematic nature could amount to crimes against humanity." HRW compiled the report over two years interviewing more than 50 residents of the Sinai Peninsula, in northeast Egypt, where independent media coverage is effectively banned and a state of emergency has been in force since 2013. In late 2017, North Sinai was the scene of the deadliest attack in Egypt's modern history when militants killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque, without any group claiming responsibility. Islamist militants have kidnapped and tortured scores of residents and also attacked security forces. Security forces have likewise targeted Sinai residents arresting thousands and forcibly "disappearing" dozens, according to the HRW report. Children as young as 12 have been detained in routine sweeps eventually being jailed in secret prisons. Alongside the report, a video was released showing footage of air strikes on residents' homes and extrajudicial killings of suspected jihadists by security forces. "Why all of this? Should we carry weapons and work with the militants or work with the army or live like victims? Everyone is preying on us," said a North Sinai resident interviewed for the report. HRW called on the United States to halt all military assistance to Egypt until gross violations are fully investigated. Egypt has for years been fighting a hardened insurgency in North Sinai, which escalated following the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Since then, hundreds of police officers and soldiers have been killed in militant attacks. In February 2018, the army launched a nationwide operation against Islamic extremists, focused on the North Sinai. Some 650 militants and around 45 soldiers have been killed since the start of the offensive, according to separate statements by the armed forces.

Human Rights Watch accuses Egypt forces, militants of Sinai 'war crimes'

Attacks by two jihadist groups killed at least 17 Syrian government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo early on Saturday, a war monitor said.

Thirty others were wounded in the assaults by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its ally Hurras al-Deen, which remains affiliated to the global jihadist network, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The attacks in the southern and southwestern countryside of Aleppo province were launched shortly after midnight and triggered clashes that continued until dawn, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

He said the fighting subsided after Russian aircraft struck jihadist positions in the area, prompting the fighters to pull back.

Eight jihadists were killed, he added.

Russia aircraft also carried out strikes in neighbouring Hama province early on Saturday, killing five civilians, the Observatory said.

On Friday, Russian strikes killed 10 civilians in Idlib province, the hub of territory held by the jihadists of HTS in northwestern Syria.

Russia and rebel-backer Turkey in September inked a buffer zone deal to avert a massive government offensive on the Idlib region, but the deal has never been implemented.

The region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since HTS took full control of it in January.

The latest Russian air raids came after two days of talks on the Syrian conflict between Turkey, Russia and fellow government backer Iran in Kazakhstan earlier this week.

The three governments expressed concern over the growing power of HTS in Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces, and determination to cooperate to eliminate the jihadist group.

The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with the bloody repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Attacks by two jihadist groups killed at least 17 Syrian government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo early on Saturday, a war monitor said.

Attacks by two jihadist groups killed at least 17 Syrian government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo early on Saturday, a war monitor said. Thirty others were wounded in the assaults by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its ally Hurras al-Deen, which remains affiliated to the global jihadist network, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The attacks in the southern and southwestern countryside of Aleppo province were launched shortly after midnight and triggered clashes that continued until dawn, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. He said the fighting subsided after Russian aircraft struck jihadist positions in the area, prompting the fighters to pull back. Eight jihadists were killed, he added. Russia aircraft also carried out strikes in neighbouring Hama province early on Saturday, killing five civilians, the Observatory said. On Friday, Russian strikes killed 10 civilians in Idlib province, the hub of territory held by the jihadists of HTS in northwestern Syria. Russia and rebel-backer Turkey in September inked a buffer zone deal to avert a massive government offensive on the Idlib region, but the deal has never been implemented. The region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since HTS took full control of it in January. The latest Russian air raids came after two days of talks on the Syrian conflict between Turkey, Russia and fellow government backer Iran in Kazakhstan earlier this week. The three governments expressed concern over the growing power of HTS in Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces, and determination to cooperate to eliminate the jihadist group. The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with the bloody repression of anti-government protests in 2011.

Jihadist attacks kill 17 Syria pro-regime fighters: Monitor

Iraq has begun trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi suspected members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing jihadist territory in neighbouring Syria, a judicial source told AFP on Sunday.&nbsp;

They were handed over to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/iraq-unearths-mass-grave-of-kurds-killed-by-saddam-210294">Iraqi authorities</a> by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which ousted IS from swathes of eastern Syria including territory bordering Iraq.&nbsp;

"We received the interrogation files of nearly 900 Iraqi Daesh (IS) members coming from Syria," the court official said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

"The specialised terrorism court has begun setting dates for their trial in batches," the source added.&nbsp;

The nearly 900 suspected jihadists were transferred by the SDF to Iraqi custody in recent months as the remnants of IS' once sprawling self-declared "caliphate" collapsed in neighbouring Syria.&nbsp;

Additional Iraqi suspects are in SDF custody and awaiting transferral, a security source told AFP Sunday.

"They will be handed over in batches on the Syrian-Iraqi border. They include very influential leaders, but IS had sought to keep them hidden," the security source said.&nbsp;

One of those destined to be handed over was deeply involved in IS' efforts to develop chemical weapons, he said.

Iraq has already tried thousands of its own nationals arrested on home soil for joining IS -- including women -- and has sentenced hundreds to death.&nbsp;

The country remains in the top five "executioner" nations in the world, according to an Amnesty International report released last week.

The number of death sentences issued by Iraqi courts more than quadrupled from 65 in 2017 to at least 271 in 2018.

But fewer were actually carried out, according to Amnesty, with 52 executions in 2018 compared to 125 in 2017.&nbsp;

In addition to locals, Iraq has also tried hundreds of foreigners, condemning many to life in prison and others to death, although no foreign IS members have yet been executed.&nbsp;

Among those awaiting trial in Baghdad are 12 accused French IS members, who were caught in Syria and transferred to Iraqi custody in February.&nbsp;

Baghdad has offered to try all foreign fighters in SDF custody -- estimated at around 1,000 -- in exchange for millions of dollars, Iraqi government sources have told AFP.

Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have criticised these trials, which they say often rely on circumstantial evidence or confessions obtained under torture.

Iraq has begun trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi suspected members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing jihadist territory in neighbouring Syria, a judicial source told AFP on Sunday.

Iraq has begun trial proceedings for nearly 900 Iraqi suspected members of the Islamic State group caught fleeing jihadist territory in neighbouring Syria, a judicial source told AFP on Sunday. They were handed over to Iraqi authorities by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which ousted IS from swathes of eastern Syria including territory bordering Iraq. "We received the interrogation files of nearly 900 Iraqi Daesh (IS) members coming from Syria," the court official said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to talk to the media. "The specialised terrorism court has begun setting dates for their trial in batches," the source added. The nearly 900 suspected jihadists were transferred by the SDF to Iraqi custody in recent months as the remnants of IS' once sprawling self-declared "caliphate" collapsed in neighbouring Syria. Additional Iraqi suspects are in SDF custody and awaiting transferral, a security source told AFP Sunday. "They will be handed over in batches on the Syrian-Iraqi border. They include very influential leaders, but IS had sought to keep them hidden," the security source said. One of those destined to be handed over was deeply involved in IS' efforts to develop chemical weapons, he said. Iraq has already tried thousands of its own nationals arrested on home soil for joining IS -- including women -- and has sentenced hundreds to death. The country remains in the top five "executioner" nations in the world, according to an Amnesty International report released last week. The number of death sentences issued by Iraqi courts more than quadrupled from 65 in 2017 to at least 271 in 2018. But fewer were actually carried out, according to Amnesty, with 52 executions in 2018 compared to 125 in 2017. In addition to locals, Iraq has also tried hundreds of foreigners, condemning many to life in prison and others to death, although no foreign IS members have yet been executed. Among those awaiting trial in Baghdad are 12 accused French IS members, who were caught in Syria and transferred to Iraqi custody in February. Baghdad has offered to try all foreign fighters in SDF custody -- estimated at around 1,000 -- in exchange for millions of dollars, Iraqi government sources have told AFP. Rights groups including Human Rights Watch have criticised these trials, which they say often rely on circumstantial evidence or confessions obtained under torture.

Iraq begins trial proceedings for 900 jihadist suspects

A German woman who joined the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/islamic-state-defeated-caliphate-eliminated-says-us-ally-in-syria-205079">Islamic State jihadist group</a> went on trial Tuesday accused of the war crime of letting a five-year-old <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wionews.com/videos/germany-to-investigate-yazidi-womans-claim-of-running-into-her-isis-captor-160491&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjF3Za8-cLhAhWTFIgKHZ-CDT4QFggEMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;usg=AOvVaw34slMZQ78MLUfD9ky6uhzu">Yazidi</a> "slave" girl die of thirst in the sun.

The case against Jennifer Wenisch, 27, is believed to be the first anywhere in the world for international crimes committed by IS militants against members of the Yazidi minority.

She faces a maximum term of life in jail if found guilty of committing murder and of murder as a war crime, as well membership in a terrorist organisation and violations of the German War Weapons Control Act.

It is Germany's first trial of a female IS returnee, prosecutor Claudia Gorf told the Munich court.

Wenisch -- wearing a white blouse and black jacket, her dark hair not covered -- showed no emotion and did not speak, but shielded her face with a paper folder while photographers were in the room at the start.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad, herself a Yazidi survivor of IS enslavement and torture, said in a statement that the trial "is a very big moment for me and for the entire Yazidi community".

Prominent London-based human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is part of the team representing the dead Yazidi girl's mother, although Clooney did not appear on the trial's opening day.

'Agonising death'&nbsp;

German prosecutors allege Wenisch and her IS husband "purchased" the Yazidi woman and child as household "slaves" whom they held captive while living in then IS-occupied Mosul, Iraq, in 2015.

"After the girl fell ill and wet her mattress, the husband of the accused chained her up outside as punishment and let the child die an agonising death of thirst in the scorching heat," prosecutors charge.

"The accused allowed her husband to do so and did nothing to save the girl."

German media said the defendant's husband, Taha Sabah Noori Al-J., had beaten both the mother and child and that Wenisch allegedly also once held a pistol to the woman's head.

The trial is being held under tight security in a court for state security and terrorism cases, with hearings initially scheduled until September 30.

Morality police&nbsp;

Wenisch -- who reportedly left school after the eighth grade and has no job or qualifications -- converted to Islam in 2013 and travelled the following year via Turkey and Syria to Iraq where she joined the IS.

Recruited in mid-2015 to the group's self-styled hisbah morality police, she patrolled city parks in IS-occupied Fallujah and Mosul.

Armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, a pistol and an explosives vest, her task was to ensure strict IS rules on dress code, public behaviour and bans on alcohol and tobacco.

In January 2016, months after the Yazidi child's death, she visited the German embassy in Ankara to apply for new identity papers. When she left the mission, she was arrested and extradited days later to Germany.

For lack of actionable evidence against her at the time, she was allowed to return to her home in the German state of Lower Saxony but quickly sought to return to IS territory.

FBI informant

Der Spiegel reported that an FBI informant posed as an accomplice who offered to take Wenisch and her two-year-old child back to the IS "caliphate".

While they were sitting in a bugged car, headed for Turkey, Wenisch allegedly spoke of her time at the IS and incriminated herself.

She said that the child's death had been "hard-core even for the IS" and unjust because only God had the right to use fire as punishment, adding that her husband had later been beaten as punishment by the IS.

Police followed her car for several hours and listened to a live audio feed, then arrested Wenisch at a highway stop.

Amal Clooney, the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, has been involved in a campaign to get IS crimes against the Yazidi recognised as a "genocide".

"I hope this will be the first of many trials that will finally bring ISIS to justice in line with international law," the lawyer said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for the group.

A German woman who joined the Islamic State jihadist group went on trial Tuesday accused of the war crime of letting a five-year-old Yazidi "slave" girl die of thirst in the sun.

A German woman who joined the Islamic State jihadist group went on trial Tuesday accused of the war crime of letting a five-year-old Yazidi "slave" girl die of thirst in the sun. The case against Jennifer Wenisch, 27, is believed to be the first anywhere in the world for international crimes committed by IS militants against members of the Yazidi minority. She faces a maximum term of life in jail if found guilty of committing murder and of murder as a war crime, as well membership in a terrorist organisation and violations of the German War Weapons Control Act. It is Germany's first trial of a female IS returnee, prosecutor Claudia Gorf told the Munich court. Wenisch -- wearing a white blouse and black jacket, her dark hair not covered -- showed no emotion and did not speak, but shielded her face with a paper folder while photographers were in the room at the start. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad, herself a Yazidi survivor of IS enslavement and torture, said in a statement that the trial "is a very big moment for me and for the entire Yazidi community". Prominent London-based human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is part of the team representing the dead Yazidi girl's mother, although Clooney did not appear on the trial's opening day. 'Agonising death' German prosecutors allege Wenisch and her IS husband "purchased" the Yazidi woman and child as household "slaves" whom they held captive while living in then IS-occupied Mosul, Iraq, in 2015. "After the girl fell ill and wet her mattress, the husband of the accused chained her up outside as punishment and let the child die an agonising death of thirst in the scorching heat," prosecutors charge. "The accused allowed her husband to do so and did nothing to save the girl." German media said the defendant's husband, Taha Sabah Noori Al-J., had beaten both the mother and child and that Wenisch allegedly also once held a pistol to the woman's head. The trial is being held under tight security in a court for state security and terrorism cases, with hearings initially scheduled until September 30. Morality police Wenisch -- who reportedly left school after the eighth grade and has no job or qualifications -- converted to Islam in 2013 and travelled the following year via Turkey and Syria to Iraq where she joined the IS. Recruited in mid-2015 to the group's self-styled hisbah morality police, she patrolled city parks in IS-occupied Fallujah and Mosul. Armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, a pistol and an explosives vest, her task was to ensure strict IS rules on dress code, public behaviour and bans on alcohol and tobacco. In January 2016, months after the Yazidi child's death, she visited the German embassy in Ankara to apply for new identity papers. When she left the mission, she was arrested and extradited days later to Germany. For lack of actionable evidence against her at the time, she was allowed to return to her home in the German state of Lower Saxony but quickly sought to return to IS territory. FBI informant Der Spiegel reported that an FBI informant posed as an accomplice who offered to take Wenisch and her two-year-old child back to the IS "caliphate". While they were sitting in a bugged car, headed for Turkey, Wenisch allegedly spoke of her time at the IS and incriminated herself. She said that the child's death had been "hard-core even for the IS" and unjust because only God had the right to use fire as punishment, adding that her husband had later been beaten as punishment by the IS. Police followed her car for several hours and listened to a live audio feed, then arrested Wenisch at a highway stop. Amal Clooney, the wife of Hollywood star George Clooney, has been involved in a campaign to get IS crimes against the Yazidi recognised as a "genocide". "I hope this will be the first of many trials that will finally bring ISIS to justice in line with international law," the lawyer said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for the group.

German Islamic State woman accused of letting Yazidi 'slave' girl die of thirst

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/heavy-clashes-as-us-backed-forces-battle-is-in-syria-report-196387">Islamic State group jihadists </a>using tunnels and suicide bombers were mounting a desperate defence Thursday of their last square kilometre in<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/pompeo-optimistic-syria-kurds-turkey-can-be-protected-189910"> eastern Syria.</a>

Kurdish-led forces closed in on the small town of Baghouz where IS fighters and their relatives were hunkered down and met hundreds of famished and dishevelled people turning themselves in.

"The fighting is fierce," said Adnan Afrin, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-Arab outfit that has spearheaded the campaign against IS with backing from a US-led coalition.

"There is significant resistance," he told AFP in Al-Omar oil field, the main staging base for the SDF's offensive against the very last shred of the original IS "caliphate".

The few hundred fighters of various nationalities holding out in their last bastion by the Iraqi border have launched bruising counter-attacks in recent days, Afrin said.

The jihadists are clinging to about one square kilometre in the town's built-up area, as well as to an adjacent camp, where a number of civilians are believed to be gathered.

Afrin said it was impossible to provide accurate figures but he estimated the total number of fighters, men and women, at around 1,000.

Tunnels&nbsp;

"There are many tunnels in Baghouz now. This is why the operation is dragging on. There are many suicide bombers attacking our positions, with explosives-laden cars and motorbikes," he said.

Afrin said two such suicide attacks were carried out by women on Tuesday but he would not provide any figures on casualties among SDF ranks.

Hundreds of people continued to trickle out of the last IS redoubt every day, trudging up a dirt road to a collection point where SDF fighters and volunteers provide first aid and carry out the first screening.

Many of them had to sleep outside in the cold to reach that point, where a lucky few get tents while the rest were spread out on cheap blankets.

"The kids were crying all night from the cold," said Fatima, an Iraqi woman from Baghdad who fled Baghouz with her four children, all under 15.

"This is the second night we sleep outside. There was so much bombing in Baghouz that it was safer for us to sleep in the open," she told AFP.

The US-led coalition is carrying out air strikes on the area while its forces are also present on the ground, sifting through the displaced for wanted jihadists.

Afrin said SDF forces tuning their walkie-talkies on the jihadists' frequencies "can hear them speak in Arabic but also in Turkish, French and English."

Once the adult men have been separated from their families, foreign and SDF officers thumb through pictures on smartphones to ask new arrivals about wanted IS leaders.

Baghdadi&nbsp;

IS's elusive Iraqi-born supremo, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is not believed to be among the last jihadist leaders holed up in Baghouz.

Several known jihadist figures have emerged from the dregs of the "caliphate" in recent days, however, including German Martin Lemke and Frenchman Quentin Le Brun.&nbsp;

A rift appears to have grown between foreign members of IS who have nowhere to hide and local fighters who are attempting to blend back into the population as the organisation goes underground again.

The "caliphate" Baghdadi proclaimed in mid-2014 once spanned territory the size of the United Kingdom and administered millions of people.

It printed is own schoolbooks, produced oil, collected taxes and minted its own currency, in a brief but unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood.

Successive offensives in Iraq and Syria have shattered the proto-state, which lost its key cities one after the other and has since late 2017 been confined to its traditional stronghold in the Euphrates River valley.

An official declaration of victory against IS is expected in the coming days, a move of mostly symbolic value that will go down as the death certificate of the "caliphate".

While surviving IS fighters on both sides of the border will no longer hold fixed positions, the jihadist organisation will remain a threat.

The United States is due to pull its troops out of Syria within weeks, creating a vacuum that risks allowing IS to rebuild and project new ambitions.

The Kurds are also afraid they will have to squander the autonomy they acquired and be left exposed to a military offensive by their archfoe Turkey. 
&nbsp;

Islamic State group jihadists using tunnels and suicide bombers were mounting a desperate defence Thursday of their last square kilometre in eastern Syria. Kurdish-led forces closed in on the small town of Baghouz where IS fighters and their relatives were hunkered down and met hundreds of famished and dishevelled people turning themselves in.

Islamic State group jihadists using tunnels and suicide bombers were mounting a desperate defence Thursday of their last square kilometre in eastern Syria. Kurdish-led forces closed in on the small town of Baghouz where IS fighters and their relatives were hunkered down and met hundreds of famished and dishevelled people turning themselves in. "The fighting is fierce," said Adnan Afrin, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-Arab outfit that has spearheaded the campaign against IS with backing from a US-led coalition. "There is significant resistance," he told AFP in Al-Omar oil field, the main staging base for the SDF's offensive against the very last shred of the original IS "caliphate". The few hundred fighters of various nationalities holding out in their last bastion by the Iraqi border have launched bruising counter-attacks in recent days, Afrin said. The jihadists are clinging to about one square kilometre in the town's built-up area, as well as to an adjacent camp, where a number of civilians are believed to be gathered. Afrin said it was impossible to provide accurate figures but he estimated the total number of fighters, men and women, at around 1,000. Tunnels "There are many tunnels in Baghouz now. This is why the operation is dragging on. There are many suicide bombers attacking our positions, with explosives-laden cars and motorbikes," he said. Afrin said two such suicide attacks were carried out by women on Tuesday but he would not provide any figures on casualties among SDF ranks. Hundreds of people continued to trickle out of the last IS redoubt every day, trudging up a dirt road to a collection point where SDF fighters and volunteers provide first aid and carry out the first screening. Many of them had to sleep outside in the cold to reach that point, where a lucky few get tents while the rest were spread out on cheap blankets. "The kids were crying all night from the cold," said Fatima, an Iraqi woman from Baghdad who fled Baghouz with her four children, all under 15. "This is the second night we sleep outside. There was so much bombing in Baghouz that it was safer for us to sleep in the open," she told AFP. The US-led coalition is carrying out air strikes on the area while its forces are also present on the ground, sifting through the displaced for wanted jihadists. Afrin said SDF forces tuning their walkie-talkies on the jihadists' frequencies "can hear them speak in Arabic but also in Turkish, French and English." Once the adult men have been separated from their families, foreign and SDF officers thumb through pictures on smartphones to ask new arrivals about wanted IS leaders. Baghdadi IS's elusive Iraqi-born supremo, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is not believed to be among the last jihadist leaders holed up in Baghouz. Several known jihadist figures have emerged from the dregs of the "caliphate" in recent days, however, including German Martin Lemke and Frenchman Quentin Le Brun. A rift appears to have grown between foreign members of IS who have nowhere to hide and local fighters who are attempting to blend back into the population as the organisation goes underground again. The "caliphate" Baghdadi proclaimed in mid-2014 once spanned territory the size of the United Kingdom and administered millions of people. It printed is own schoolbooks, produced oil, collected taxes and minted its own currency, in a brief but unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood. Successive offensives in Iraq and Syria have shattered the proto-state, which lost its key cities one after the other and has since late 2017 been confined to its traditional stronghold in the Euphrates River valley. An official declaration of victory against IS is expected in the coming days, a move of mostly symbolic value that will go down as the death certificate of the "caliphate". While surviving IS fighters on both sides of the border will no longer hold fixed positions, the jihadist organisation will remain a threat. The United States is due to pull its troops out of Syria within weeks, creating a vacuum that risks allowing IS to rebuild and project new ambitions. The Kurds are also afraid they will have to squander the autonomy they acquired and be left exposed to a military offensive by their archfoe Turkey.

Syria jihadists trapped in last square kilometre

US-led coalition air strikes on the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/a-coup-hostages-and-chaos-isis-final-days-in-syria-196684">last jihadist pocket in Syria</a> on Monday killed 16 civilians, including at least seven children, a war monitor said.&nbsp;

Eight women and one elderly man were also among the civilians killed while trying to flee towards the Iraqi border, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The coalition was not immediately available for comment but has repeatedly said it does its utmost to avoid targeting civilians.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday announced the final push to expel hundreds of diehard jihadists from their last patch of territory in eastern Syria on the Iraq border.

The SDF estimates that up to 600 IS fighters could still remain inside, most of them foreigners.

Nineteen IS fighters were killed in clashes with the SDF on Monday, the monitor said.

The Kurdish-led force lost nine fighters during battles with jihadists, the Observatory said.&nbsp;

The SDF does not usually divulge casualty figures until weeks or months later.

US-led coalition air strikes on the last jihadist pocket in Syria on Monday killed 16 civilians, including at least seven children, a war monitor said. Eight women and one elderly man were also among the civilians killed while trying to flee towards the Iraqi border, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

US-led coalition air strikes on the last jihadist pocket in Syria on Monday killed 16 civilians, including at least seven children, a war monitor said. Eight women and one elderly man were also among the civilians killed while trying to flee towards the Iraqi border, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The coalition was not immediately available for comment but has repeatedly said it does its utmost to avoid targeting civilians. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday announced the final push to expel hundreds of diehard jihadists from their last patch of territory in eastern Syria on the Iraq border. The SDF estimates that up to 600 IS fighters could still remain inside, most of them foreigners. Nineteen IS fighters were killed in clashes with the SDF on Monday, the monitor said. The Kurdish-led force lost nine fighters during battles with jihadists, the Observatory said. The SDF does not usually divulge casualty figures until weeks or months later.

Seven children among 16 killed in strike on Islamic State Syria holdout: War monitor

Australia failed to make basic checks before stripping a suspected <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/australia-asks-turkey-to-extradite-top-is-terror-suspect-9349?amp">Islamic State fighter</a> of his citizenship, a senior official said Wednesday, an admission likely to call into question the legality of the move.

The country last month striped Neil Prakash of citizenship after claiming he was Fijian — prompting strenuous denials from the authorities in Suva and an embarrassing diplomatic rift.

Prakash is accused of being a member of the IS jihadist group and identified as the 12th Australian dual-national to lose their passport over terrorism links.

He is currently in Turkey facing charges of joining the organisation.

A parliamentary intelligence committee on Wednesday grilled Home Affairs officials on the issue, asking whether they verified his status with Fiji or consulted experts in Fijian law before revoking Prakash's citizenship.

"No, we did not" admitted senior department official Linda Geddes.

If Prakash is neither Fijian nor Australian he would now be stateless in contravention of decades-old UN accords and Australian law.

A Special Counsel advising the government told the parliamentary committee he offered "strong advice" on the case, but would not go into detail.

The move against Prakash was touted at the time by hardline Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton as the ruling Liberal Party eyed its base supporters and May elections.

But it created an awkward backdrop for a recent landmark Pacific visit by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Australia failed to make basic checks before stripping a suspected Islamic State fighter of his citizenship, a senior official said Wednesday, an admission likely to call into question the legality of the move.

Australia failed to make basic checks before stripping a suspected Islamic State fighter of his citizenship, a senior official said Wednesday, an admission likely to call into question the legality of the move. The country last month striped Neil Prakash of citizenship after claiming he was Fijian — prompting strenuous denials from the authorities in Suva and an embarrassing diplomatic rift. Prakash is accused of being a member of the IS jihadist group and identified as the 12th Australian dual-national to lose their passport over terrorism links. He is currently in Turkey facing charges of joining the organisation. A parliamentary intelligence committee on Wednesday grilled Home Affairs officials on the issue, asking whether they verified his status with Fiji or consulted experts in Fijian law before revoking Prakash's citizenship. "No, we did not" admitted senior department official Linda Geddes. If Prakash is neither Fijian nor Australian he would now be stateless in contravention of decades-old UN accords and Australian law. A Special Counsel advising the government told the parliamentary committee he offered "strong advice" on the case, but would not go into detail. The move against Prakash was touted at the time by hardline Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton as the ruling Liberal Party eyed its base supporters and May elections. But it created an awkward backdrop for a recent landmark Pacific visit by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Australia admits misstep over Islamic State suspect

Over 600 people were evacuated Saturday from the Islamic State group's remaining holdout in eastern Syria, a monitor said, as <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-led-coalition-withdrawing-equipment-from-syria-189689">US-backed fighters</a> prepare for a final assault on the area.

"More than 600 people, mainly women and children, were evacuated on 25 buses sent" by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.&nbsp;

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that several dozen jihadist fighters were among those evacuated to areas held by the Kurdish-Arab alliance.&nbsp;

The SDF, backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, in September launched an offensive to oust IS from the rump of the once-sprawling "caliphate" it proclaimed in 2014.

Abdel Rahman said some 16,000 people, including 760 IS fighters, have fled the area since the start of December.

But "this is the first time that buses have been provided by the SDF and coalition", he said, suggesting a potential deal had been struck between the warring sides.

The United Nations said Friday that overall some 25,000 people have fled the violence over the last six months as the die-hard jihadists have battled to defend their dwindling bastions.&nbsp;

An estimated 2,000 civilians remain trapped in the area around the town of Hajin, the UN said.

The US-led coalition on Saturday fired over 20 missiles against jihadist positions, the Observatory said.&nbsp;

The monitor said some 300 SDF combattants had deployed near the village of Sousa in preparations for a final assault.&nbsp;

The fight to eliminate the remaining pockets of IS has been shaken by President Donald Trump's shock December announcement that he is withdrawing US troops from Syria.&nbsp;

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday sought to reassure Washington's Kurdish allies in the fight against IS, who fear the departure of American troops would allow Turkey to attack them.

Over 600 people were evacuated Saturday from the Islamic State group's remaining holdout in eastern Syria, a monitor said, as US-backed fighters prepare for a final assault on the area.

Over 600 people were evacuated Saturday from the Islamic State group's remaining holdout in eastern Syria, a monitor said, as US-backed fighters prepare for a final assault on the area. "More than 600 people, mainly women and children, were evacuated on 25 buses sent" by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that several dozen jihadist fighters were among those evacuated to areas held by the Kurdish-Arab alliance. The SDF, backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, in September launched an offensive to oust IS from the rump of the once-sprawling "caliphate" it proclaimed in 2014. Abdel Rahman said some 16,000 people, including 760 IS fighters, have fled the area since the start of December. But "this is the first time that buses have been provided by the SDF and coalition", he said, suggesting a potential deal had been struck between the warring sides. The United Nations said Friday that overall some 25,000 people have fled the violence over the last six months as the die-hard jihadists have battled to defend their dwindling bastions. An estimated 2,000 civilians remain trapped in the area around the town of Hajin, the UN said. The US-led coalition on Saturday fired over 20 missiles against jihadist positions, the Observatory said. The monitor said some 300 SDF combattants had deployed near the village of Sousa in preparations for a final assault. The fight to eliminate the remaining pockets of IS has been shaken by President Donald Trump's shock December announcement that he is withdrawing US troops from Syria. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday sought to reassure Washington's Kurdish allies in the fight against IS, who fear the departure of American troops would allow Turkey to attack them.

600 people leave in first evacuation from Syria IS holdout: Monitor

The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that rocked the former jihadist stronghold of Tal Afar in northern Iraq and killed two people.

"A car bomb exploded near a cafe in the Ras al-Jadah district in the centre of Tal Afar," said Abed Alaal Abbas, an official in the city some 70 kilometres (40 miles) west of Mosul.

The blast "killed two and wounded 11 other civilians", he told AFP.

Iraq's joint operations command confirmed the toll.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack on the Telegram messaging application, saying the blast killed three.

It was the first attack in Tal Afar since Iraqi forces retook the city from the IS in August last year.

The recapture of the city, which lies between Mosul and the Syrian border, was hailed as a major victory against the jihadists, who seized nearly one-third of Iraq in a sweeping 2014 offensive.

The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that rocked the former jihadist stronghold of Tal Afar in northern Iraq and killed two people.

The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that rocked the former jihadist stronghold of Tal Afar in northern Iraq and killed two people. "A car bomb exploded near a cafe in the Ras al-Jadah district in the centre of Tal Afar," said Abed Alaal Abbas, an official in the city some 70 kilometres (40 miles) west of Mosul. The blast "killed two and wounded 11 other civilians", he told AFP. Iraq's joint operations command confirmed the toll. IS claimed responsibility for the attack on the Telegram messaging application, saying the blast killed three. It was the first attack in Tal Afar since Iraqi forces retook the city from the IS in August last year. The recapture of the city, which lies between Mosul and the Syrian border, was hailed as a major victory against the jihadists, who seized nearly one-third of Iraq in a sweeping 2014 offensive.

Islamic State claims responsibility for Iraq car bomb attack

Air strikes by the US-led coalition killed 13 jihadist fighters and 14 of their relatives Friday in eastern Syria, a war monitor said.

The strikes came two days after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-pressures-democrats-warns-government-may-close-for-very-long-time-185701">US President Donald Trump</a>'s decision to pull troops out of Syria raised fears the Islamic State group would use the vacuum to regroup.

"At least 27 people were killed this morning in Al-Shaafa," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

He said eight children were among the 14 civilian victims and added several people were seriously wounded in the strikes.

The raids targeted IS positions in Al-Shaafa, one of the two main villages in the last pocket of territory still controlled by IS in the Euphrates River valley.

Close to 1,000 IS fighters have been killed since Kurdish-led forces, backed by coalition air strikes, launched an operation on that pocket in September.

Trump said he was ordering a withdrawal of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria because IS had been defeated, an assessment rubbished by many, including in his own camp.

On Friday, the leadership of the Kurdish force that has spearheaded the fight against IS warned it might have to pull back from the anti-jihadist front if a US withdrawal invites a Turkish military assault against them.

According to the Observatory, 545 members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were killed battling IS since the start of the operation on September 10.

Air strikes by the US-led coalition killed 13 jihadist fighters and 14 of their relatives Friday in eastern Syria, a war monitor said. The strikes came two days after US President Donald Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria raised fears the Islamic State group would use the vacuum to regroup.

Air strikes by the US-led coalition killed 13 jihadist fighters and 14 of their relatives Friday in eastern Syria, a war monitor said. The strikes came two days after US President Donald Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria raised fears the Islamic State group would use the vacuum to regroup. "At least 27 people were killed this morning in Al-Shaafa," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP. He said eight children were among the 14 civilian victims and added several people were seriously wounded in the strikes. The raids targeted IS positions in Al-Shaafa, one of the two main villages in the last pocket of territory still controlled by IS in the Euphrates River valley. Close to 1,000 IS fighters have been killed since Kurdish-led forces, backed by coalition air strikes, launched an operation on that pocket in September. Trump said he was ordering a withdrawal of the estimated 2,000 US troops in Syria because IS had been defeated, an assessment rubbished by many, including in his own camp. On Friday, the leadership of the Kurdish force that has spearheaded the fight against IS warned it might have to pull back from the anti-jihadist front if a US withdrawal invites a Turkish military assault against them. According to the Observatory, 545 members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were killed battling IS since the start of the operation on September 10.

Air strikes by US-led coalition kill 27 in eastern Syria: War monitor

Groups aligned with the Islamic state have warned of further attacks on Australia and other Western nations in online posters featuring the deadly lone wolf stabbing rampage in Melbourne last week.

"Australia, don't think you are away from our attacks," read one poster, which showed a photo of a vehicle the Melbourne attacker set alight during his attack last Friday.

The SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist threats said the graphic was issued Wednesday by the Sunni Shield Media Foundation, which is aligned with the Islamic State.

Another graphic posted online and distributed by SITE showed an image drawn from social media showing the Melbourne attacker, Hassan Khalid Shire Ali, trying to stab a policeman before he was fatally shot.

A text overlay on the image says: "Melbourne today - What is the next city tomorrow??!" Shire Ali stabbed and killed one man during the incident and wounded two others before being killed by police.

Australian police characterised the attack as "terrorism" and said the 30-year-old Somali-born Shire Ali was inspired by the Islamic State, but acted alone and had no known ties to the group.

On the day of the attack, Islamic State (IS) said via its propaganda arm that Shire Ali was an "Islamic State fighter and carried out the operation", but provided no evidence to back its claim.

Australia is a member of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS in Syria and neighbouring Iraq since 2014.

The jihadists took large swathes of Syria and Iraq that year, proclaiming a "caliphate" across land it controlled.

But the jihadist group has since lost most of that territory to multiple offensives on both sides of the border.&nbsp;

Groups aligned with the Islamic state have warned of further attacks on Australia and other Western nations in online posters featuring the deadly lone wolf stabbing rampage in Melbourne last week.

Groups aligned with the Islamic state have warned of further attacks on Australia and other Western nations in online posters featuring the deadly lone wolf stabbing rampage in Melbourne last week. "Australia, don't think you are away from our attacks," read one poster, which showed a photo of a vehicle the Melbourne attacker set alight during his attack last Friday. The SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist threats said the graphic was issued Wednesday by the Sunni Shield Media Foundation, which is aligned with the Islamic State. Another graphic posted online and distributed by SITE showed an image drawn from social media showing the Melbourne attacker, Hassan Khalid Shire Ali, trying to stab a policeman before he was fatally shot. A text overlay on the image says: "Melbourne today - What is the next city tomorrow??!" Shire Ali stabbed and killed one man during the incident and wounded two others before being killed by police. Australian police characterised the attack as "terrorism" and said the 30-year-old Somali-born Shire Ali was inspired by the Islamic State, but acted alone and had no known ties to the group. On the day of the attack, Islamic State (IS) said via its propaganda arm that Shire Ali was an "Islamic State fighter and carried out the operation", but provided no evidence to back its claim. Australia is a member of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS in Syria and neighbouring Iraq since 2014. The jihadists took large swathes of Syria and Iraq that year, proclaiming a "caliphate" across land it controlled. But the jihadist group has since lost most of that territory to multiple offensives on both sides of the border.

Australia, don't think you are away from our attacks: Islamic state groups

Regime forces killed at least 15 civilians on Sunday in air strikes carried out in northwestern Syria in apparent retaliation for a jihadist attack on two besieged government-held villages, a monitor said.

The bombing raids hit a string of towns and villages in the northwestern province of Idlib, which is almost entirely controlled by various jihadist and hardline rebels.

In the town of Taftanaz the strikes killed 10 civilians, including four children, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said strikes had also hit near a children's hospital, putting it out of service.

Five other civilians were killed in raids that hit other towns.

The air strikes came a day after jihadists from Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate launched an attack on Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages held by the regime but cut off by hardline forces.

Late Saturday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied fighters shelled Fuaa and Kafraya heavily and clashed with local fighters.

"This is the fiercest attack in around three years," Abdel Rahman said, adding that Sunday's deadly air strikes were in response to the jihadist attack.

Six Syrian pro-regime fighters and at least three from HTS were killed in the fighting, which continued on Sunday.

Syrian state news agency SANA also reported Saturday's attack, and said local fighters were able to push back the jihadists.

Fuaa and Kafraya are the only two places in Syria currently designated as besieged by the United Nations after the government recaptured the Yarmuk Palestinian camp in southern Damascus.

The villages are home to an estimated 8,100 people, most of them Shiite Muslims. They came under siege in 2015, when rebels ousted regime forces from a vast majority of Idlib province.

Since then, the mainstream opposition's influence has dwindled as jihadists solidified their grip on the province, and regime forces have recaptured an eastern sliver of Idlib.

HTS and its allies control around 60 per cent of the province, its local rivals hold about a third, and the regime controls about 10 per cent, according to the Observatory.

Now, even the Islamic State group is conducting hit-and-run attacks in Idlib against its HTS rival.

Last week, clashes between HTS and an IS sleeper cell made up of Iraqi jihadists left more than two dozen fighters dead, mostly from IS.

In retaliation, the IS cell executed five HTS fighters it had abducted in Idlib, the Observatory said. HTS also killed six IS members it had captured in the clashes. Siege tactics have been used throughout Syria's seven-year conflict, mostly by the government.

Troops have employed the tactic alongside heavy bombing to cut off food and medicine to rebel-held areas, then coerce people to agree to leave in population transfers.

Idlib, which lies on the border with Turkey, has seen its population balloon to around two million people in recent years as fighters and civilians evacuated from other opposition areas are dumped there.

It was designated last year as a de-escalation zone, but violence has been creeping up again.&nbsp

The bombing raids hit a string of towns and villages in the northwestern province of Idlib, which is almost entirely controlled by various jihadist and hardline rebels

Regime forces killed at least 15 civilians on Sunday in air strikes carried out in northwestern Syria in apparent retaliation for a jihadist attack on two besieged government-held villages, a monitor said. The bombing raids hit a string of towns and villages in the northwestern province of Idlib, which is almost entirely controlled by various jihadist and hardline rebels. In the town of Taftanaz the strikes killed 10 civilians, including four children, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said strikes had also hit near a children's hospital, putting it out of service. Five other civilians were killed in raids that hit other towns. The air strikes came a day after jihadists from Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate launched an attack on Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages held by the regime but cut off by hardline forces. Late Saturday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied fighters shelled Fuaa and Kafraya heavily and clashed with local fighters. "This is the fiercest attack in around three years," Abdel Rahman said, adding that Sunday's deadly air strikes were in response to the jihadist attack. Six Syrian pro-regime fighters and at least three from HTS were killed in the fighting, which continued on Sunday. Syrian state news agency SANA also reported Saturday's attack, and said local fighters were able to push back the jihadists. Fuaa and Kafraya are the only two places in Syria currently designated as besieged by the United Nations after the government recaptured the Yarmuk Palestinian camp in southern Damascus. The villages are home to an estimated 8,100 people, most of them Shiite Muslims. They came under siege in 2015, when rebels ousted regime forces from a vast majority of Idlib province. Since then, the mainstream opposition's influence has dwindled as jihadists solidified their grip on the province, and regime forces have recaptured an eastern sliver of Idlib. HTS and its allies control around 60 per cent of the province, its local rivals hold about a third, and the regime controls about 10 per cent, according to the Observatory. Now, even the Islamic State group is conducting hit-and-run attacks in Idlib against its HTS rival. Last week, clashes between HTS and an IS sleeper cell made up of Iraqi jihadists left more than two dozen fighters dead, mostly from IS. In retaliation, the IS cell executed five HTS fighters it had abducted in Idlib, the Observatory said. HTS also killed six IS members it had captured in the clashes. Siege tactics have been used throughout Syria's seven-year conflict, mostly by the government. Troops have employed the tactic alongside heavy bombing to cut off food and medicine to rebel-held areas, then coerce people to agree to leave in population transfers. Idlib, which lies on the border with Turkey, has seen its population balloon to around two million people in recent years as fighters and civilians evacuated from other opposition areas are dumped there. It was designated last year as a de-escalation zone, but violence has been creeping up again.

Syria strikes kill 15 civilians after jihadist attack: Monitor

Deadly clashes erupted overnight as jihadist fighters attacked two besieged regime-controlled villages in northwestern Syria, a monitor said on Sunday.

The villages of Fuaa and Kafraya represent a tiny pocket of regime-held territory in Syria's northwest Idlib province, which is otherwise almost entirely controlled by various jihadist and hardline rebels.

Occasional skirmishes erupt there but the frontline has been quiet in recent months.&nbsp

Late Saturday, fighters from Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate attacked Fuaa and Kafraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.&nbsp

"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) began heavily shelling the two villages, and broke into Fuaa to attack local fighters," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.&nbsp

"This is the fiercest attack in around three years," he told AFP.

The fighting, which was continuing Sunday, had killed six Syrian pro-regime fighters and at least three from HTS.

Syrian state news agency SANA also reported the attack, and said local fighters had been able to push HTS back.

Around 10,000 people, most of them Shiite Muslims, are estimated to live in the two villages. Syrian troops also hold some territory in Idlib's east, including the key Abu Duhur airbase.&nbsp

In apparent retaliation for the attack, Syrian warplanes pounded several towns around Fuaa and Kafraya on Sunday, AFP's correspondent and a monitor said.&nbsp

Fuaa and Kafraya are the only two places in Syria currently designated as besieged by the United Nations.

Siege tactics have been used throughout Syria's seven-year conflict, mostly by the government.&nbsp

Troops have employed the tactic alongside heavy bombing to cut off food and medicine to rebel-held areas, then coerce people to agree to leave in population transfer deals. After such agreements, the United Nations no longer considers those areas as besieged. &nbsp

The fate of Fuaa and Kafraya has been heavily impacted by such deals.&nbsp

They made up part of the Four Towns Agreement, a complex deal that saw tit-for-tat evacuations and aid deliveries between Fuaa and Kafraya on one hand, and the government-besieged towns of Zabadani and Madaya.&nbsp

Idlib, which lies on the border with Turkey, has seen its population balloon in recent years as fighters and civilians evacuated from other opposition areas are dumped there.&nbsp

Rebels overran most of Idlib in 2015, but the mainstream opposition's influence has dwindled as jihadists like HTS have solidified their grip on the province.

In recent months, regime forces have recaptured a sliver of the province and the Islamic State group is conducting hit-and-run attacks there against its HTS rival.&nbsp

Last week, clashes in Idlib between HTS and an IS sleeper cell made up of Iraqi jihadists left more than two dozen fighters dead, mostly from IS.&nbsp

In retaliation, the IS cell executed five HTS fighters it had abducted in Idlib, the Britain-based Observatory said Sunday.&nbsp

HTS also killed six IS members it had captured in the clashes.

The villages of Fuaa and Kafraya represent a tiny pocket of regime-held territory in Syria's northwest Idlib province, which is otherwise almost entirely controlled by various jihadist and hardline rebels

Deadly clashes erupted overnight as jihadist fighters attacked two besieged regime-controlled villages in northwestern Syria, a monitor said on Sunday. The villages of Fuaa and Kafraya represent a tiny pocket of regime-held territory in Syria's northwest Idlib province, which is otherwise almost entirely controlled by various jihadist and hardline rebels. Occasional skirmishes erupt there but the frontline has been quiet in recent months. Late Saturday, fighters from Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate attacked Fuaa and Kafraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) began heavily shelling the two villages, and broke into Fuaa to attack local fighters," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. "This is the fiercest attack in around three years," he told AFP. The fighting, which was continuing Sunday, had killed six Syrian pro-regime fighters and at least three from HTS. Syrian state news agency SANA also reported the attack, and said local fighters had been able to push HTS back. Around 10,000 people, most of them Shiite Muslims, are estimated to live in the two villages. Syrian troops also hold some territory in Idlib's east, including the key Abu Duhur airbase. In apparent retaliation for the attack, Syrian warplanes pounded several towns around Fuaa and Kafraya on Sunday, AFP's correspondent and a monitor said. Fuaa and Kafraya are the only two places in Syria currently designated as besieged by the United Nations. Siege tactics have been used throughout Syria's seven-year conflict, mostly by the government. Troops have employed the tactic alongside heavy bombing to cut off food and medicine to rebel-held areas, then coerce people to agree to leave in population transfer deals. After such agreements, the United Nations no longer considers those areas as besieged. The fate of Fuaa and Kafraya has been heavily impacted by such deals. They made up part of the Four Towns Agreement, a complex deal that saw tit-for-tat evacuations and aid deliveries between Fuaa and Kafraya on one hand, and the government-besieged towns of Zabadani and Madaya. Idlib, which lies on the border with Turkey, has seen its population balloon in recent years as fighters and civilians evacuated from other opposition areas are dumped there. Rebels overran most of Idlib in 2015, but the mainstream opposition's influence has dwindled as jihadists like HTS have solidified their grip on the province. In recent months, regime forces have recaptured a sliver of the province and the Islamic State group is conducting hit-and-run attacks there against its HTS rival. Last week, clashes in Idlib between HTS and an IS sleeper cell made up of Iraqi jihadists left more than two dozen fighters dead, mostly from IS. In retaliation, the IS cell executed five HTS fighters it had abducted in Idlib, the Britain-based Observatory said Sunday. HTS also killed six IS members it had captured in the clashes.

Deadly clashes as jihadists attack two besieged Syria regime villages

The Islamic State group had lost ground Saturday in a town on the Syrian-Iraqi border after pro-regime forces repelled a major attack the day before, a Britain-based monitor said.

Violent clashes were ongoing in Albu Kamal, which lies in the Euphrates Valley in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

"IS has retreated from inside the town to its western and northwestern parts" after pro-regime forces pushed back the jihadists, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Pro-government reinforcements had arrived, he said.

On Friday, IS used at least 10 suicide bombers in its offensive on Albu Kamal, swiftly taking several of its neighbourhoods, the monitor said.&nbsp

It was the biggest attack on the town since the jihadist group lost it in November 2017, and the latest in a string of attacks by IS across Syria.

Neither Syrian state media nor the army reported Friday's attack on Albu Kamal.

The fighting in the town over the past 24 hours has killed 30 pro-regime fighters, the Observatory said.

These include 16 regime troops among them a general, as well as 14 non-Syrian combattants, notably Iranians and Lebanese Hezbollah movement fighters, the monitor said.

Twenty-one IS jihadists were also killed in that same period, including the 10 suicide bombers, according to the same source.

IS has ramped up its attacks against pro-regime forces since its fighters in May left their last bastion near Damascus under an evacuation deal with the regime.

IS in 2014 proclaimed a cross-border "caliphate" in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, but has since lost most of its territory to various military offensives.

Its presence is mostly confined to pockets of eastern Syria in the vast desert stretching from the country's centre to the border with Iraq.

Earlier this week, IS assaults in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor killed 45 pro-regime fighters.

On Thursday, IS jihadists also killed 22 pro-regime fighters in surprise attacks in the southern province of Sweida, a monitor said.

Violent clashes were ongoing in Albu Kamal, which lies in the Euphrates Valley in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said

The Islamic State group had lost ground Saturday in a town on the Syrian-Iraqi border after pro-regime forces repelled a major attack the day before, a Britain-based monitor said. Violent clashes were ongoing in Albu Kamal, which lies in the Euphrates Valley in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. "IS has retreated from inside the town to its western and northwestern parts" after pro-regime forces pushed back the jihadists, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. Pro-government reinforcements had arrived, he said. On Friday, IS used at least 10 suicide bombers in its offensive on Albu Kamal, swiftly taking several of its neighbourhoods, the monitor said. It was the biggest attack on the town since the jihadist group lost it in November 2017, and the latest in a string of attacks by IS across Syria. Neither Syrian state media nor the army reported Friday's attack on Albu Kamal. The fighting in the town over the past 24 hours has killed 30 pro-regime fighters, the Observatory said. These include 16 regime troops among them a general, as well as 14 non-Syrian combattants, notably Iranians and Lebanese Hezbollah movement fighters, the monitor said. Twenty-one IS jihadists were also killed in that same period, including the 10 suicide bombers, according to the same source. IS has ramped up its attacks against pro-regime forces since its fighters in May left their last bastion near Damascus under an evacuation deal with the regime. IS in 2014 proclaimed a cross-border "caliphate" in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, but has since lost most of its territory to various military offensives. Its presence is mostly confined to pockets of eastern Syria in the vast desert stretching from the country's centre to the border with Iraq. Earlier this week, IS assaults in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor killed 45 pro-regime fighters. On Thursday, IS jihadists also killed 22 pro-regime fighters in surprise attacks in the southern province of Sweida, a monitor said.

IS jihadists lose ground in Syria town after major attack: Monitor

Syria's army said Monday it was in full control of the capital Damascus and its outskirts after ousting the Islamic State group, marking a major milestone in the seven-year war.

"The Syrian army announces today that Damascus, its outskirts and surrounding towns are completely secure," it said in a statement carried on official media.

The development came after troops had captured a key southern portion of Damascus from IS, the statement said, including the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk and the adjacent district of Hajar al-Aswad.

"The wheel of our progress on the battlefield will not stop until all Syrian land is purified," it added.

Syria's war erupted in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad, including in the capital.

The following year, the government began losing control of parts of Damascus and placed a crippling siege around Yarmuk, which lies in the capital's south.

The army's announcement came hours after a tenuous evacuation deal saw hundreds of IS fighters and their relatives quit Yarmuk, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The government has denied reaching a deal with IS. It said a brief ceasefire had allowed one convoy of women and children to leave the pocket in southern Damascus.

Since last year, Syria's government has cleared swathes of territory around Damascus from its armed opponents through a blend of military pressure and evacuation deals.

Syria's army said Monday it was in full control of the capital Damascus and its outskirts after ousting the Islamic State group, marking a major milestone in the seven-year war

Syria's army said Monday it was in full control of the capital Damascus and its outskirts after ousting the Islamic State group, marking a major milestone in the seven-year war. "The Syrian army announces today that Damascus, its outskirts and surrounding towns are completely secure," it said in a statement carried on official media. The development came after troops had captured a key southern portion of Damascus from IS, the statement said, including the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk and the adjacent district of Hajar al-Aswad. "The wheel of our progress on the battlefield will not stop until all Syrian land is purified," it added. Syria's war erupted in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad, including in the capital. The following year, the government began losing control of parts of Damascus and placed a crippling siege around Yarmuk, which lies in the capital's south. The army's announcement came hours after a tenuous evacuation deal saw hundreds of IS fighters and their relatives quit Yarmuk, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The government has denied reaching a deal with IS. It said a brief ceasefire had allowed one convoy of women and children to leave the pocket in southern Damascus. Since last year, Syria's government has cleared swathes of territory around Damascus from its armed opponents through a blend of military pressure and evacuation deals.

Syria says capital 'completely secure', IS ousted

Syrian rebels and their families began leaving Syria&#39;s Eastern Ghouta on Thursday under the first evacuation deal in the shrinking opposition enclave outside Damascus.

The agreement announced on Wednesday and brokered by regime ally Russia, could empty one of three rebel-held pockets in the region and mark a major advance in government efforts to secure the nearby capital.

It could also increase pressure on rebels to follow suit in the two other opposition-held pockets of the besieged enclave, where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped under relentless bombardment.

State television said around 1,824 people -- including 319 fighters -- had boarded buses from the Eastern Ghouta town of Harasta until now held by the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group.&nbsp;

A military source said that the rebels and accompanying civilians had boarded buses and were in a buffer zone, waiting to cross into regime-controlled territory.

Another military source said around 2,000 people are expected to leave in total, including around 700 fighters on Thursday.

Ahrar al-Sham spokesman Munzer Fares said the evacuations could last several days.&nbsp;

They followed renewed air strikes in Ghouta early on Thursday which killed 20 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.&nbsp;

Since February 18, a devastating Russian-backed offensive on Eastern Ghouta has sliced the shrinking enclave into three isolated pockets.

Rebels cut off

Central Damascus lies within mortar range of Eastern Ghouta, and the evacuation deal came after the deadliest rebel rocket attack on the capital in months killed 44 civilians on Tuesday.

Rebel fire on Thursday killed four people in Damascus, state television said.

The regime&#39;s offensive on Ghouta has killed more than 1,500 civilians since February 18, according to Observatory.

The rebels and their families will be transported to the northwestern province of Idlib, which is held by a myriad of jihadist, Islamist and secular groups, many with links to Turkey.

The evacuation from Harasta will further isolate the rebel groups that control the remaining two pockets of Eastern Ghouta and pile pressure on them to accept similar deals.

Syrian Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told AFP that Ahrar al-Sham had negotiated with the Russian Centre for Reconciliation and that Damascus was not directly involved.

Nawar Oliver, an analyst at the Turkey-based Omran Centre, said fighters in Harasta &quot;were not able to impose a single one of their conditions&quot;.

&#39;Tragic&#39; conditions

Opposition figures in Ghouta said talks were underway for a deal to evacuate rebels from the enclave&#39;s main town, Douma.

Douma is controlled by the Jaish al-Islam group, while a pocket of territory around the town of Zamalka, closer to the capital, is held by Faylaq al-Rahman with a small jihadist presence.

Air strikes on Zamalka killed 16 civilians on Thursday, the Observatory said.

An AFP reporter in Douma said hundreds of civilians were fleeing the town.

Similar evacuation deals have seen the government retake a string of former rebel bastions.

A May 2014 deal saw rebels pull out of the third city Homs, once labelled the &quot;capital of the revolution&quot; that sparked Syria&#39;s seven-year civil war.

In December 2016, the army retook the whole of the second city Aleppo as rebels withdrew in one of their worst defeats of the war.

Those agreements also followed devastating bombardments that took a heavy toll on trapped civilians.

The assault on Ghouta has sparked a mass exodus of civilians from the shrinking rebel enclave.

Some 50,000 people have reached shelters in the government-controlled territory in the past week, according to the United Nations.

On Wednesday, the UN&#39;s humanitarian coordinator in Syria said those displaced were living in &quot;tragic&quot; conditions.

&quot;People may have escaped fighting, fear and insecurity but they find themselves in a place without anywhere to wash themselves,&quot; Ali al-Zaatari said.

Syrian rebels and their families began leaving Syria's Eastern Ghouta on Thursday under the first evacuation deal in the shrinking opposition enclave outside Damascus

Syrian rebels and their families began leaving Syria's Eastern Ghouta on Thursday under the first evacuation deal in the shrinking opposition enclave outside Damascus. The agreement announced on Wednesday and brokered by regime ally Russia, could empty one of three rebel-held pockets in the region and mark a major advance in government efforts to secure the nearby capital. It could also increase pressure on rebels to follow suit in the two other opposition-held pockets of the besieged enclave, where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped under relentless bombardment. State television said around 1,824 people -- including 319 fighters -- had boarded buses from the Eastern Ghouta town of Harasta until now held by the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group. A military source said that the rebels and accompanying civilians had boarded buses and were in a buffer zone, waiting to cross into regime-controlled territory. Another military source said around 2,000 people are expected to leave in total, including around 700 fighters on Thursday. Ahrar al-Sham spokesman Munzer Fares said the evacuations could last several days. They followed renewed air strikes in Ghouta early on Thursday which killed 20 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Since February 18, a devastating Russian-backed offensive on Eastern Ghouta has sliced the shrinking enclave into three isolated pockets. Rebels cut off Central Damascus lies within mortar range of Eastern Ghouta, and the evacuation deal came after the deadliest rebel rocket attack on the capital in months killed 44 civilians on Tuesday. Rebel fire on Thursday killed four people in Damascus, state television said. The regime's offensive on Ghouta has killed more than 1,500 civilians since February 18, according to Observatory. The rebels and their families will be transported to the northwestern province of Idlib, which is held by a myriad of jihadist, Islamist and secular groups, many with links to Turkey. The evacuation from Harasta will further isolate the rebel groups that control the remaining two pockets of Eastern Ghouta and pile pressure on them to accept similar deals. Syrian Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told AFP that Ahrar al-Sham had negotiated with the Russian Centre for Reconciliation and that Damascus was not directly involved. Nawar Oliver, an analyst at the Turkey-based Omran Centre, said fighters in Harasta "were not able to impose a single one of their conditions". 'Tragic' conditions Opposition figures in Ghouta said talks were underway for a deal to evacuate rebels from the enclave's main town, Douma. Douma is controlled by the Jaish al-Islam group, while a pocket of territory around the town of Zamalka, closer to the capital, is held by Faylaq al-Rahman with a small jihadist presence. Air strikes on Zamalka killed 16 civilians on Thursday, the Observatory said. An AFP reporter in Douma said hundreds of civilians were fleeing the town. Similar evacuation deals have seen the government retake a string of former rebel bastions. A May 2014 deal saw rebels pull out of the third city Homs, once labelled the "capital of the revolution" that sparked Syria's seven-year civil war. In December 2016, the army retook the whole of the second city Aleppo as rebels withdrew in one of their worst defeats of the war. Those agreements also followed devastating bombardments that took a heavy toll on trapped civilians. The assault on Ghouta has sparked a mass exodus of civilians from the shrinking rebel enclave. Some 50,000 people have reached shelters in the government-controlled territory in the past week, according to the United Nations. On Wednesday, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Syria said those displaced were living in "tragic" conditions. "People may have escaped fighting, fear and insecurity but they find themselves in a place without anywhere to wash themselves," Ali al-Zaatari said.

First rebels quit Syria enclave under Russia-brokered deal

Dozens of people were killed Friday in twin attacks on the French embassy in Burkina Faso and the country&#39;s military headquarters, an assault that coincided with a meeting of regional anti-jihadist forces.&nbsp; 
 
The apparently coordinated attacks underlined the struggle the fragile West African nation faces in containing a bloody and growing jihadist insurgency. 
 
The government said the attack on the military was a suicide car bombing and that a planned meeting of the G5 Sahel regional anti-terrorism force may have been the target. 
 
Officials from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger were at the meeting, representing the G5 Sahel nations who have launched a joint military force to combat jihadists on the southern rim of the Sahara. 
 
Eight members of the armed forces were killed by the blast and the parallel attack on the French embassy, while 80 were wounded, said Security Minister Clement Sawadogo. The minister said eight attackers had been shot dead. 
 
&quot;The vehicle was packed with explosives&quot; and caused &quot;huge damage&quot;, Sawadogo said, adding that it was a suicide attack. 
 
Three security sources, two in France and one in West Africa, told AFP that at least 28 people were killed in the attack on the military HQ alone. 
 
French government sources said there were no French casualties and described the situation in Ouagadougou as &quot;under control&quot;. 
 
&quot;Our country was once again the target of dark forces,&quot; President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a statement. 
 
The violence began mid-morning when heavy gunfire broke out in the centre of the Burkinabe capital. 
 
Witnesses said five armed men got out of a car and opened fire on passersby before heading towards the French embassy. 
 
At the same time, the bomb went off near the headquarters of the Burkinabe armed forces and the French cultural centre, about a kilometre (half a mile) from the site of the first attack, other witnesses said. 
 
Sawadogo said the G5 meeting was supposed to have been held at the headquarters but had been moved to another room. 
 
&quot;Perhaps it was the target. We do not know at the moment. In any case the room was literally destroyed by the explosion,&quot; the minister said. 
 
The G5 Sahel&#39;s completed force will be composed of 5,000 troops and aims to be fully operational by the end of the month. 
 
It has already carried out operations against jihadist fighters with help from the French army. 
 
Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger&#39;s president and the current chair of the group, said Friday&#39;s attacks &quot;will only strengthen the resolve of the G5-Sahel and its allies in the fight against terrorism&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned his Burkinabe counterpart Kabore to express solidarity and send his condolences to the families of the slain security force members, his office said. 
 
Macron, who made a high-profile visit to Burkina Faso in November, said the attacks &quot;illustrate once more the threat weighing on the entire Sahel region&quot;. 
 
French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said damage to the embassy was minor, and the mission would be able to resume normal operations &quot;in two or three days&quot;. 
 
Turkey&#39;s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is on a visit to neighbouring Mali, &quot;strongly condemned&quot; the attack while UN chief Antonio Guterres called for an &quot;urgent and concerted effort&quot; to improve stability in the Sahel. 
 
An interim UN report seen by AFP warned of a &quot;growing threat&quot; to the Sahel from two groups: the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS) and Ansar al-Islam. 
 
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Burkina Information Minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said the attack &quot;has strong overtones of terrorism&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Burkina Faso has a history of military-backed coups as well as jihadist attacks. 
 
The insurgency in the region has caused thousands of deaths, prompted tens of thousands to flee their homes and dealt crippling blows to economies that are already among the poorest in the world. 
 
On August 13 last year, two assailants opened fire on a restaurant on Ouagadougou&#39;s main avenue, killing 19 people and wounding 21. No one has so far claimed responsibility for that attack. 
 
On January 15 2016, 30 people -- including six Canadians and five Europeans -- were killed in a jihadist attack on a hotel and restaurant in the city centre.&nbsp; 
 
That attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Murabitoun group, which was led by the one-eyed Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar. 
 
A group called Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) also said some of its militants were involved. 
 
France, the former colonial power in the Sahel region, has deployed 4,000 troops to support the G5 joint force. 
 
On February 21, two members of the French counter-terrorism force were killed by a landmine near Mali&#39;s border with Niger and Burkina Faso. Twelve French soldiers have died since the campaign -- called Operation Barkhane -- was launched in August 2014. 
 
The United Nations also has a 12,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali called MINUSMA, which has taken heavy casualties. Four UN peacekeepers were killed by a mine blast on Wednesday in the centre of the country. 
&nbsp;

The apparently coordinated attacks underlined the struggle the fragile West African nation faces in containing a bloody and growing jihadist insurgency

Dozens of people were killed Friday in twin attacks on the French embassy in Burkina Faso and the country's military headquarters, an assault that coincided with a meeting of regional anti-jihadist forces. The apparently coordinated attacks underlined the struggle the fragile West African nation faces in containing a bloody and growing jihadist insurgency. The government said the attack on the military was a suicide car bombing and that a planned meeting of the G5 Sahel regional anti-terrorism force may have been the target. Officials from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger were at the meeting, representing the G5 Sahel nations who have launched a joint military force to combat jihadists on the southern rim of the Sahara. Eight members of the armed forces were killed by the blast and the parallel attack on the French embassy, while 80 were wounded, said Security Minister Clement Sawadogo. The minister said eight attackers had been shot dead. "The vehicle was packed with explosives" and caused "huge damage", Sawadogo said, adding that it was a suicide attack. Three security sources, two in France and one in West Africa, told AFP that at least 28 people were killed in the attack on the military HQ alone. French government sources said there were no French casualties and described the situation in Ouagadougou as "under control". "Our country was once again the target of dark forces," President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a statement. The violence began mid-morning when heavy gunfire broke out in the centre of the Burkinabe capital. Witnesses said five armed men got out of a car and opened fire on passersby before heading towards the French embassy. At the same time, the bomb went off near the headquarters of the Burkinabe armed forces and the French cultural centre, about a kilometre (half a mile) from the site of the first attack, other witnesses said. Sawadogo said the G5 meeting was supposed to have been held at the headquarters but had been moved to another room. "Perhaps it was the target. We do not know at the moment. In any case the room was literally destroyed by the explosion," the minister said. The G5 Sahel's completed force will be composed of 5,000 troops and aims to be fully operational by the end of the month. It has already carried out operations against jihadist fighters with help from the French army. Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger's president and the current chair of the group, said Friday's attacks "will only strengthen the resolve of the G5-Sahel and its allies in the fight against terrorism". French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned his Burkinabe counterpart Kabore to express solidarity and send his condolences to the families of the slain security force members, his office said. Macron, who made a high-profile visit to Burkina Faso in November, said the attacks "illustrate once more the threat weighing on the entire Sahel region". French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said damage to the embassy was minor, and the mission would be able to resume normal operations "in two or three days". Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is on a visit to neighbouring Mali, "strongly condemned" the attack while UN chief Antonio Guterres called for an "urgent and concerted effort" to improve stability in the Sahel. An interim UN report seen by AFP warned of a "growing threat" to the Sahel from two groups: the Islamic State in the Great Sahara (ISGS) and Ansar al-Islam. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Burkina Information Minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou said the attack "has strong overtones of terrorism". Burkina Faso has a history of military-backed coups as well as jihadist attacks. The insurgency in the region has caused thousands of deaths, prompted tens of thousands to flee their homes and dealt crippling blows to economies that are already among the poorest in the world. On August 13 last year, two assailants opened fire on a restaurant on Ouagadougou's main avenue, killing 19 people and wounding 21. No one has so far claimed responsibility for that attack. On January 15 2016, 30 people -- including six Canadians and five Europeans -- were killed in a jihadist attack on a hotel and restaurant in the city centre. That attack was claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Murabitoun group, which was led by the one-eyed Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar. A group called Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) also said some of its militants were involved. France, the former colonial power in the Sahel region, has deployed 4,000 troops to support the G5 joint force. On February 21, two members of the French counter-terrorism force were killed by a landmine near Mali's border with Niger and Burkina Faso. Twelve French soldiers have died since the campaign -- called Operation Barkhane -- was launched in August 2014. The United Nations also has a 12,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali called MINUSMA, which has taken heavy casualties. Four UN peacekeepers were killed by a mine blast on Wednesday in the centre of the country.

Dozens dead in attacks on Burkina military HQ, French embassy

The Nigerian government on Sunday confirmed that 110 girls were missing after a Boko Haram school attack in the northeast, following days of silence on the children&#39;s fate.

&quot;The Federal Government has confirmed that 110 students of the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, are so far unaccounted for, after insurgents believed to be from a faction of Boko Haram invaded their school on Monday&quot;, the information ministry said in a statement.

The statement came after authorities were unable to account for 110 of the school&#39;s 906 students, the ministry said.

The kidnapping has raised questions about the military&#39;s repeated claims that the Islamist militants are on the verge of defeat, after nearly nine years of bitter fighting.

It has also revived memories of the 2014 mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok that shook the world.

On Monday night, terrified pupils fled the boarding school night when heavily armed fighters in military fatigues and turbans stormed the town, shouting &quot;Allahu Akbar&quot; (&quot;God is greatest&quot;).

The authorities initially denied that any student had been kidnapped.

On Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari apologised to the girls&#39;&nbsp;families, saying: &quot;This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened.&quot;Former military ruler Buhari was elected in

2015 on a promise to defeat Boko Haram, after the jihadists grew in strength under his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan was lambasted for his tardy response to the Chibok abduction, which saw 276 girls from the town in Borno state taken in the dead of night.

In his first expanded comments on Dapchi, Buhari said: &quot;This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened.&quot;

A teacher at the school, Amsani Alilawan, said there were soldiers in Dapchi until last month but they were then redeployed.

&quot;One month back, they carry (take away) all soldiers, they transferred them to another side, they leave us without security,&quot; he said.

Enraged relatives of the missing girls this week tried to surround the convoy of the state mayor of Yobe, only to be pushed back by the security forces.

The kidnapping is the worst jihadist assault to have hit Nigeria since Buhari came to power.

Schools, particularly those with a secular curriculum, have been targeted by Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates from Hausa as &quot;Western education is forbidden&quot;.

Boko Haram&#39;s quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and made more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009.

The jihadists have increasingly turned to kidnapping for ransom as a way to finance their operations and win back key commanders in prisoner swaps with the Nigerian government.

The kidnapping has raised questions about the military's repeated claims that the Islamist militants are on the verge of defeat, after nearly nine years of bitter fighting

The Nigerian government on Sunday confirmed that 110 girls were missing after a Boko Haram school attack in the northeast, following days of silence on the children's fate. "The Federal Government has confirmed that 110 students of the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, are so far unaccounted for, after insurgents believed to be from a faction of Boko Haram invaded their school on Monday", the information ministry said in a statement. The statement came after authorities were unable to account for 110 of the school's 906 students, the ministry said. The kidnapping has raised questions about the military's repeated claims that the Islamist militants are on the verge of defeat, after nearly nine years of bitter fighting. It has also revived memories of the 2014 mass abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok that shook the world. On Monday night, terrified pupils fled the boarding school night when heavily armed fighters in military fatigues and turbans stormed the town, shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest"). The authorities initially denied that any student had been kidnapped. On Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari apologised to the girls' families, saying: "This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened."Former military ruler Buhari was elected in 2015 on a promise to defeat Boko Haram, after the jihadists grew in strength under his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan was lambasted for his tardy response to the Chibok abduction, which saw 276 girls from the town in Borno state taken in the dead of night. In his first expanded comments on Dapchi, Buhari said: "This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened." A teacher at the school, Amsani Alilawan, said there were soldiers in Dapchi until last month but they were then redeployed. "One month back, they carry (take away) all soldiers, they transferred them to another side, they leave us without security," he said. Enraged relatives of the missing girls this week tried to surround the convoy of the state mayor of Yobe, only to be pushed back by the security forces. The kidnapping is the worst jihadist assault to have hit Nigeria since Buhari came to power. Schools, particularly those with a secular curriculum, have been targeted by Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates from Hausa as "Western education is forbidden". Boko Haram's quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and made more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009. The jihadists have increasingly turned to kidnapping for ransom as a way to finance their operations and win back key commanders in prisoner swaps with the Nigerian government.

Nigeria confirms 110 girls missing after Boko Haram school attack

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