New Delhi / AFP A mysterious cult at the centre of deadly clashes in India was running its own pseudo-government, army, court and a prison where torture was the norm, a senior police officer said. Some 3,000 followers of the sect clashed with police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh during an eviction operation, leaving 24 people dead, …

  Beirut / AFP Russian-backed Syrian troops pushed into the IS group’s bastion province Raqa on Saturday, threatening to catch the extremists in a pincer movement as US-backed Kurdish-led fighters advance from the north. The lightning advance from the southwest with Russian air support brought the army to within 40 kilometres of the Euphrates Valley town of Tabqa, site of …

  Butig / AFP Philippine troops captured an militant training camp after a 10-day battle, officials said, as part of operations to clear insurgents from a remote jungle region. The offensive against the Maute group, one of several Filipino Muslim armed organisations which have pledged allegiance to the IS, left four soldiers dead and 15 others wounded, a Philippine military …