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Shabaab Claims Nairobi Attack Retaliation for Trump Jerusalem Move

The al-Shabaab jihadist group said Wednesday it carried out the deadly attack on a Nairobi hotel and office complex in retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the SITE monitoring group said.

The group said in a statement picked up by SITE that its fighters stormed the DusitD2 complex on instructions by al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

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U.N. Warns against New Clashes in Libya Capital

The U.N.'s Libya mission warned against clashes in the country's capital on Wednesday as tensions rose between rival militias, four months after clashes that left over 100 people dead.

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Italians Leave Gaza Strip after Hamas Standoff

Three Italian security officers left the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after an incident that saw them flee to a U.N. building as Hamas security pursued them, an official and a diplomatic source said.

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U.N. Approves Mission to Shore Up Yemen Truce

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Wednesday the deployment to Yemen of up to 75 monitors in a mission to shore up a ceasefire and oversee a pullback of forces from Hodeida.

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U.S. Troops among 16 Dead in IS-Claimed Syria Bombing

A suicide attack killed U.S. servicemen in northern Syria Wednesday, causing the United States to suffer its worst combat losses in the war-torn country since 2014 as it prepares to withdraw.

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Bulgarian, Libyan PMs Intervene to End Oil Tanker Row

The prime ministers of Bulgaria and Libya have said they are working for a "positive outcome" to a dispute over the alleged illegal seizure and sale in Bulgaria of a Libyan oil tanker.

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Foreign Troops in Iraq Cut by a Quarter in 2018, Says PM

Foreign troop numbers in Iraq fell by a quarter during 2018, Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said, as the fallout fizzled from Washington's announcement it was withdrawing from neighbouring Syria.

"In January 2018 there had been almost 11,000 foreign fighters, about 70 percent of them are American, the others are from other countries," Abdel Mahdi told a weekly press briefing on Tuesday evening.

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North Syria Must Be under Regime Control, Lavrov Says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday that Syria's regime must take control of the country's north, after calls from the US to set up a Turkish-controlled "security zone" in the area.

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Syria Kurds Reject 'Security Zone' under Turkish Control

Syria's Kurds on Wednesday rejected a US proposal for a "security zone" under Turkish control along the Syrian side of the two countries' border.

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U.S.-Backed Fighters Seize East Syria Village from IS

U.S.-backed Syrian fighters Tuesday seized a key village from the Islamic State jihadist group, further chipping away at their last eastern holdout on the Iraqi border, a Britain-based monitor said.

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