IS militants regained control of Albu Kamal, their last stronghold inSyria, after Iranian-backed militias who claimed to have captured the city a few days earlier were ambushed and forced to retreat, tribal leaders, residents and a war monitor said on Monday. Fighters from Lebanese Shia Hezbollah in Syria who joined forces with Iraqi Shia fighters crossing the border into Syria were taken by surprise by militants hiding inside tunnels in the heart of the city they said they had taken on Wednesday, they said.

The Paris and Brussels attacks, a botched shooting on a high-speed train and a foiled plot in Belgium may have all been part of one big Islamic State group operation, Belgium s federal prosecutor said Monday. Speaking on the second anniversary of the November 13 Paris attacks, chief prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw confirmed for the first time what investigators have been saying privately about the possible links.

Fellow of the UN High Commissioner for Minority Affairs, Joseph Malak, sent an official warning on Sunday to Prime Minister Sherif Ismail as well as ministries of interior, local development, parliamentarian affairs and governor of Alexandria, calling on them to cancel the decisions that ordered the closure of churches in Egypt. Malak, who is also a lawyer, resorted to Egypt’s 2013 Constitution and Law 80 of 2016 pertaining to building churches as well as ministerial decree no 199 of 2017 on the formation of a commission for regulating the statues of existing churches, which says that all existing churches in Egypt are licensed.

A little-known militant group called Jund al-Islām, inspired by Al-Qaeda ideology, declared on Saturday that it carried out a military attack against the Islamic State’s Egyptian branch Sinai Province, describing the group as ‘Kharijites,’ or apostates. Through a voice statement, Jund al-Islām explained that the Sinai Province is violating Islamic Sharia law because it targets civilians and brands them as apostates.

Syria s army declared victory over Islamic State (IS) militants on Thursday, saying its capture of the jihadists last town in the country marked the collapse of their project in the region. The army and its allies are still fighting IS in desert areas near Albu Kamal, the last town the militant group had held in Syria, near the border with Iraq, the army said.

With the Islamic State group crumbling in Iraq and Syria, Afghanistan mired in crisis and Russia looming large, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has plenty of pressing issues to tackle with NATO allies this week. The Pentagon chief arrives at the alliance s Brussels headquarters Wednesday for two days of talks with fellow NATO defence ministers and a separate meeting with partners from the coalition fighting IS group in the Middle East, where the jihadists continue to lose territory.

Pro-government media say Syrian troops and allied fighters have completely encircled the last Islamic State-held town. Al-Manar TV, the media arm of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, said Wednesday that troops have surrounded the eastern town of Boukamal, on the border with Iraq. The Central Military Media Center, an outlet affiliated with the Syrian military, said Syrian troops and allied fighters have begun entering the town. There was no immediate independent confirmation.

Russia opposes a draft U.N. resolution to extend the mandate of an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday. Ryabkov s comments came hours after Russia rejected a report by the international inquiry blaming the Syrian government for a deadly toxic gas attack, casting doubt on the U.N. Security Council s ability to extend the investigation s mandate before it expires next week.

Egypt s Court of Cassation overturned on Tuesday death sentences and ordered a retrial for four defendants accused of belonging to a terrorist cell in Tanta and Alexandria. The court also overturned 10 to 15-year prison sentences for eight other defendants in the same case.

The Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb met with the Pope Francis of the Catholic Church in the Vatican on Tuesday to follow up on the mutual efforts for peace building that were discussed during the conference for World Peace organized by al-Azhar in April. During his visit to Italy, Tayeb is scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minster Paolo Gentiloni, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano and speaker of the Italian Senate Pietro Grasso to discuss ways of spreading a culture of coexistence and peace and to renounce violence, hatred and Islamophobia.

The man who killed at least 26 people in a Baptist church in a rural Texas town on Sunday died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told CBS News in an interview on Monday morning. Tackitt said gunfire was exchanged between the gunman and two armed citizens during a vehicle chase after the shootings.

Egypt has condemned a shooting incident in a Texas church on Sunday that left at least 26 dead and 20 more wounded. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Sunday evening extending Egypt s condolences to the US government and the victims families.

The Islamic State group claimed a major attack Sunday on Yemen s government bastion of Aden, which left eight police officers dead and sparked a hostage crisis that continued well into the day. The claim of the suicide attack on the security forces in the southern port city was made online by the extremist group s Aden and Abyan Wilayah, which said "clashes are still ongoing".

At least 20 people have been killed in a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, according to Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt. Many more have been injured, authorities said Sunday.

Egypt s security forces killed five terrorists on Thursday who were attempting to attack a checkpoint in the border North Sinai region, where the military is fighting an Islamist insurgency, the military said in a statement. A group of "armed terrorist elements" opened fire at security forces stationed at the checkpoint, who returned fire, forcing the gunmen to flee and hide.

Egypt s Armed Forces announced on Wednesday that the joint military-police operation targeting terrorist hideouts in the Western Desert continued for the second day in a row, the Egyptian army said in a statement on Wednesday.

Egypt s Armed Forces announced on Wednesday that the joint military-police operation targeting terrorist hideouts in the Western Desert continued for the second day in a row, the Egyptian army said in a statement on Wednesday. The Egyptian air forces - supported by special army commandoes units (Sae ka) and police - carried out airstrikes in southern Fayoum, killing all terrorist targets.

Egypt has condemned a terrorist attack in New York City which saw eight people killed on Tuesday when a man in a rented truck drove into a busy bicycle path. In a statement released by the foreign ministry, Egypt expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the victims as well to the US government and the American people, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

Egyptian security forces freed on Tuesday a police officer who was kidnapped during the deadly shootout earlier this month between policemen and terrorists in Egypt’s Western Desert, state-owned news agency MENA reported. A security source told MENA that police officer Mohamed El-Hayes was freed in a morning operation.

Egypt’s air force on Monday carried out airstrikes on the hiding places of militants responsible for the El-Wahat El-Baheria attack that left at least 16 policemen dead, according to a statement released by the army’s official spokesperson. According to the statement, the airstrikes targeted the position of the militants in a mountainous area to the west of the Fayoum governorate close to El-Wahat road.

The US State Department published their annual international religious report on the conditions of religious freedom in nearly 200 countries worldwide. According to the report, religious minorities in Egypt still face extreme terrorist threats and sectarian violence. The report points out that the Egyptian government still refuses to recognize religions, namely Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and the Baha’is despite the Egyptian constitution of 2014, which states Egyptians are free to follow and exercise any religion.