KHAZER / AP Iraqi special forces have moved more than 1,000 people out of villages near the front lines of the battle to retake the IS -held city of Mosul and surrounding areas, where the UN says militants have committed a number of abuses in recent days, officials said on Wednesday. Special forces Maj. Gen. Haider Fadhil said residents …

  Beirut / AFP Air strikes on Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province hit a school and the surrounding area on Wednesday, killing at least 26 civilians including many children, a monitor and activists said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes—either Russia or Syrian—carried out six strikes” in the village of Hass, including on a school complex. The Britain-based Observatory, which …

  Kabul / AFP Militants linked to IS extremists abducted and killed around 30 civilians, including children, in central Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday, raising concerns about the group’s expanding presence beyond its eastern stronghold. The killings occurred late Tuesday north of Firoz Koh, the capital of Ghor province, with the local government calling it a revenge attack after a …