The Islamic State group has strengthened its grip in its Libyan stronghold Sirte as new recruits and foreign fighters join its ranks while world attention focuses on Iraq and Syria.

Al Qaeda fighters retook on Wednesday two southern Yemeni towns they had briefly occupied four years ago, residents and local fighters said

Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday it had proof that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family were benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from Islamic State-held territory in Syria and Iraq.

Prime Minister David Cameron urged parliament to vote on Wednesday to approve British air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria after months of wrangling over whether enough opposition Labour lawmakers would back military action.

Suspected Boko Haram militants detonated two suicide bombs in north Cameroon overnight, killing at least three people, an official and security sources said on Wednesday.

Belgian police on Wednesday held two people for questioning in connection with the Paris attacks, after carrying out a series of searches in their hunt for key suspects with links to the November 13 massacre.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he'll resign if Moscow can prove its claim that Turkey shot down a Russian plane to protect its oil trade with ISIS.

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate on Tuesday handed Lebanese authorities the body of a soldier it executed last year, in the first stage of a delicate hostage exchange deal, authorities said.

Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen threatened the Saudi government over its plan to carry out a mass execution of prisoners, including Al-Qaeda members, the militant group announced in a statement posted on social media.

Bulgarian authorities discovered an explosive device on Tuesday in a van parked just outside the capital Sofia’s international airport.

Politician Ayman Nour was denied renewal of his passport based on a decision from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the State Litigation Authority appealed on Sunday an earlier court decision obliging the ministry to renew his passport.

Three Saudi border soldiers were killed after exchanging fire with “enemy elements” trying to cross the border from Yemen to attack two watch towers, Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency said on Monday.

Efforts to secure the release of Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive by the Nusra Front have been obstructed by last minute demands from the Syrian al Qaeda-linked group, the head of a Lebanese security agency was quoted as saying on Monday.

Tunisian security forces arrested two suspected Islamist militants late on Sunday and seized a cache of weapons and explosives, the interior ministry said.

Boko Haram activists raided a border village in Niger, killing four people and torching some 50 homes, a local official said on Monday.

The United States and its allies have conducted 15 strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement Monday.

Nageh Ibrahim, an ex-jihadist and one of the founders of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, talks about ISIS, its ideology and evolution, and gives his analysis of the phenomenon of Islamist extremism that is currently plaguing the region.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church has announced that Pope Tawadros II did not obtain an Israeli visa for his visit to Jerusalem last Thursday, responding to domestic criticisms which said the visit was a violation of a longtime popular rejection of normal ties with Israel.

A controversial visit by Egypt’s Coptic pope to Jerusalem last Thursday is still garnering criticism among Egypt’s elite, the latter whom believe the leader is violating a longstanding popular opposition to normal ties with Israel.

An Islamic State affiliate in Egypt has claimed responsibility for an attack which killed four policemen in Cairo's twin city, Giza Saturday morning.

Protected by the heaviest security ever seen on his trips, Pope Francis on Sunday preached reconciliation in the divided Central African Republic, a nation racked by bloodshed between Muslims and Christians.