The Nigerian army has freed at least 160 girls and women from the hands of Boko Haram, as it continued its advance on the Sambisa natural reserve, the last major stronghold of the terrorist group, an official said on Thursday.

At least 19 people were killed and another 22 were wounded in clashes between the army and Tuareg separatists, who since Wednesday have been trying to gain control of the city of Lere in the northwest of the country, a defence ministry statement said on Thursday.

At least 27 militants and five security personnel were killed on Thursday during a military operation in Khyber Agency, a tribal area in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas region of Pakistan, media reported.

The Cairo Criminal Court will issue its verdict on former President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons over embezzlement charges on May 9, it announced at the trial’s second session on Wednesday. In May 2014, a Cairo court sentenced Mubarak to three years in prison for seizing over 125 million …

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said India was proud of its close relations with Afghanistan and shared Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s goal of building a strong, prosperous and independent Afghanistan. He was speaking at the Rastrapati Bhawan during a banquet hosted for the Afghan president who was on a …

A Ukrainian soldier was killed and 14 others injured as shelling intensified in eastern parts of the country where government forces are fighting pro-Russian rebels, the army said Tuesday. “One Ukrainian soldier was killed and 14 injured due to military activity” over the past 24 hours, military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk …

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday met with European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini to discuss a number of conflict zones and security threats to Europe with a focus on Libya and the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has phoned on Tuesday Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s President Joseph Kabila on bilateral relations. Presidential Spokesman Alaa Youssef said the President posted his African counterpart on the Egyptian side’s interest in increasing investments in the DRC.

The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the United Nations mission tasked with monitoring the ceasefire in Western Sahara, known by the acronym MINURSO. In today’s resolution, the 15-member Council extended MINURSO until 30 April 2016. The Mission has been in effect since 1991.

The Niger government said on Tuesday it had lost 46 soldiers and 28 civilians in a Boko Haram attack on a Lake Chad island at the weekend, the country’s heaviest losses yet since it joined a regional offensive against the militants. Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said “156 terrorists” were also …