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Militants Attack Three Nigerian Churches; Dozens Killed

Enoch Mark, an outspoken Chibok leader since the April 14 kidnappings of the schoolgirls, gave a similar account, saying the raid was ongoing: "presently, as we are talking now, we are under attack". Nigeria

(CHIBOK, Nigeria) - Suspected Islamist militants killed dozens of people in an attack on three Nigerian villages, including one targeting worshippers at a church, a few miles from Chibok, the scene of an abduction of more than 200 school girls.

Residents said the gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on worshippers and pursued them as they tried to flee into the surrounding bush. The attackers hurled explosives into churches as services were ongoing and torched several buildings, witnesses said on Sunday.

ISIS, Iraqi Army Battle for Control of Tikrit

Insurgents, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), were reported to have shot down a helicopter and captured the pilot.

(TIKRIT, Iraq) - Aircraft have struck at rebel positions and clashes have broken out in various parts of the city, witnesses and officials have said.

Troops had reportedly pulled back to the nearby town of Dijla as Saturday's initial offensive met stiff resistance. The city of Tikrit was captured by Sunni rebels on June 11 as they swept across large parts of northern Iraq.

Israeli Aircraft Strike Six Targets in the Gaza Strip

Three people were injured in the attack on the Israeli factory, a paint manufacturing plant in the southern town of Sderot.

(GAZA ) - Israeli aircraft attacked at least six militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, hours after rockets fired from the Palestinian territory set a factory in Israel on fire, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

Palestinian medics said two people were wounded in air strikes on eight sites. Israeli officials said only six sites were bombed.

Gas Pipeline Blast in India Kills 14

Friday's incident was the most deadly in the Indian energy sector since August 2013.

(NEW DELHI ) - Fourteen people were killed and 20 injured on Friday in a blast and fire at a gas pipeline in Andhra Pradesh, again raising safety concerns over the country's energy projects.

The fire broke out on a stretch of pipeline running through the village of Nagaram, engulfing buildings and burning victims to death, according to TV news footage and eyewitness accounts.

Nigeria Mall Bomb Blast Kills 22; 16 of Which Were Soldiers

The extremist Boko Haram Islamic sect had claimed responsibility for the two successive explosions.

(ABUJA, Nigeria) - Twenty-one people were confirmed killed in yet another bomb explosion that rocked a major shopping mall in Wuse 2, Abuja, on Wednesday afternoon.

An eyewitness, who said he observed the scene about 50 meters away from the blast, claimed that two young men on a bike rode by and dropped the 'package' in a sac-like container and then sped off five minutes after the blast occurred.

Militants Seize Iraqi Air Bases, Oilfields as U.S. Forces Arrive

Baghdad is racing against time as the insurgents consolidate their grip on Sunni provinces.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Militants attacked one of Iraq's largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields on Wednesday as U.S. special forces troops and intelligence analysts arrived to help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is fighting for his job and is under international pressure to create a more inclusive government, said he supported starting the process of forming a new cabinet within a week.

Syrian Warplanes Kill 57 Civilians in Attack in Northern Iraq

In recent weeks, ISIS has taken over swaths of Iraq in its attempt to create an Islamic state stretching from Syria to Iraq.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - At least 57 Iraqi civilians were killed and more than 120 others were wounded by what local officials say were Syrian warplanes that struck several parts of Anbar province Tuesday.

Sabah Karkhout, the head of Iraq’s Anbar provincial council, told CNN that the attacks struck markets and fuel stations in areas such as Rutba, al-Walid and Qaim.

UN Says Over 1,000 Killed in Iraq in June

Abductions continue to be reported in the northern provinces and in Baghdad.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - More than 1,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed and roughly the same number injured in fighting and other violence in Iraq in June as Sunni militants swept through the north, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Victims include a number of confirmed summary executions committed by forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -- ISIL -- and prisoners killed by retreating Iraqi forces.

Nigerian Bomb Blast at State College Kills 7

Amnesty International estimates that more than 1,500 people were killed in northeast Nigeria in the first three months of this year.

(KANO Nigeria) - An explosion tore through a state college in the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Monday, killing at least seven people, a security source said.

The blast in the north's biggest city hit the Kano State School of Hygiene, the source said.

Kerry: Iraq Will Only Survive if Leaders Come Together

Jordanian army sources said Jordan's troops had been put in a state of alert in recent days along the 112-mile border with Iraq, redeploying in some areas as part of steps to ward off "any potential or perceived security threats".

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday promised "intense and sustained" U.S. support for Iraq, but said the divided country would only survive if its leaders took urgent steps to bring it together.

Hours before Kerry arrived in Baghdad, Sunni tribes who have joined a militant takeover of northern Iraq seized the only legal crossing point with Jordan, security sources said.