Bartalla / AFP Iraqi special forces threw themselves back into battle on Saturday after a first foray into Mosul was blunted by stiffer than expected resistance from extremists defending the birthplace of their “caliphate”. While the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) fought the IS group in the streets of Mosul, the army and federal police attacked one of the last sizeable …

  Kabul /AFP US forces conceded on Saturday that its air strikes “very likely” resulted in civilian casualties in Afghanistan’s volatile Kunduz province, pledging a full investigation into the incident which triggered angry protests. The strikes early Thursday killed at least 30 people, many of them children, after a Taliban assault left two American soldiers and three Afghan special forces …

  Kano / AFP The Nigerian military said on Saturday it had rescued another of the missing Chibok schoolgirls near the border with Cameroon. “Nigerian army troops rescued another Chibok schoolgirl at Pulka” on Friday evening, army spokesman Sani Usman said, adding he would give details of the rescue operation later. Pulka is outside the town of Gwoza in Borno state …