Frankfurt / AFP The IS extremist group claimed responsibility for a knife attack in Hamburg on October 16 that left a teenager dead, IS-affiliated news agency Amaq reported. “A soldier of the IS stabbed two individuals in Hamburg city on the 16th of this month,” the release said, in response to “calls to target the citizens of coalition countries” that …

  Beirut / AFP French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian heads to the Central African Republic on Sunday to formally end Operation Sangaris, begun three years ago to halt mass killings there but which failed to disarm militias terrorising the population. The formal end to the French mission comes as a fresh wave of bloodshed shook the troubled nation, spearheaded …

  Washington / AFP The death rate among Afghan security forces is surging far above last year’s levels, a US government watchdog said Sunday, and slew of social gains in the war-torn nation is also eroding. Afghan forces are nearing the end of their second year providing security across their war-torn country, after NATO moved into an advisory and training …