Middle east events and news

EXCLUSIVE: With The Establishment Of The ‘Front For The Liberation Of Syria’: Are Rebel Factions In Northern Syria Headed For A Clash?
On February 18, 2018, the two armed rebel factions in northern Syria, Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement and Nour Al-Din Al-Zenki, announced their merger under a new umbrella organization, Jabhat Tahrir Suriyya, or the Front for the Liberation of Syria. Both these factions were once part of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), also known as the Organization for the Liberation of Al-Sham, but following numerous disputes split off from it. In recent months, there has been great tension between the sides, i.e. Ahrar al-Sham and Al-Zenki on the one hand and HTS on the other, which included clashes and heavy exchanges of fire.
Al-Shabab Claims It Killed US Soldier
On February 20, 2018, Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen’s news agency Al-Shahadah reported that its men killed an American soldier in a firefight between them and a joint US-Somali-AMISOM force in the outskirts of the town of Bulogudud, some 30 KM north of the city of Kismayo in southern Somalia.
GSIM Urges Malian Citizens To Boycott The Elections And Join The Jihad Against The French And The Malian Government
On February 16, 2008 the a media agency identified with the Group For The Support Of Islam And Muslims (GSIM), Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the Sahel, released an approximately 13-minute-long video by the group’s chief Qadi Abu ‘Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sanhaji titled “About the Elections.” (by memri.org)