Libya strongman Khalifa Haftar will not attend roundtable talks at a Palermo conference aimed at stabilising the north African nation but will meet regional leaders on the sidelines, his office said on Tuesday.

The US military in Afghanistan has halted most face-to-face contacts with the Afghan security forces and has temporarily withdrawn troops from Afghan security facilities after recent “insider” shootings, US media reported on Thursday.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command has indicated readiness to face dangers of Islamic State on the borders with Syria. In a statement, Brig. Gen. Yahia Rasool, the spokesperson for the command, said, “The Iraqi-Syrian borders are protected by the joint troops of army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) as …