Bloomberg Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri endorsed the Afghan Taliban guerrillas, a move that may boost the group’s insurgency in Afghanistan after President Barack Obama approved the expansion of the US military’s role in the war-plagued nation. Al-Zawahiri announced that he would “extend my pledge of allegiance” in a 14-minute online audio recording, Reuters reported on Saturday. “We’re still waiting …

  Washington / AFP The coalition fighting the IS group in Syria may have accidentally hit allied rebels during an air strike at the end of last month, a US military spokesman said on Saturday. Coalition forces carried out three air strikes against tactical IS units and vehicles near Ma’ra on May 28, Centcom spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder said in …

  Dhaka / AFP Bangladesh police have arrested an additional 2,000 suspected criminals including militants in an ongoing crackdown on extremists following a spate of gruesome murders, an officer said on Sunday. More than 3,000 people, including suspected ordinary criminals with existing warrants against them, were arrested on Saturday after police launched a controversial anti-militant drive across the Muslim-majority nation. …