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Tunisia Dismantles Cell Planning Attack on 'Senior Official'

Tunisia has dismantled a jihadist cell planning attacks including against security officials and a senior government official, a prosecution spokesman said Monday.

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Suicide Car Bomb Blast Kills 10 South of Baghdad

A suicide car bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group and targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint south of Baghdad Monday killed at least 10 people, security and medical sources said.

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EU Says Russian, Syrian Aleppo Bombing May be 'War Crimes'

The EU on Monday strongly condemned Russia for causing "untold suffering" through its bombardment of the Syrian city of Aleppo, saying that air strikes by Moscow and Damascus could amount to war crimes.

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Moscow Announces 8-Hour Aleppo Ceasefire by Russian, Syrian Forces Thursday

Russia said Monday its forces and Syrian regime troops would briefly halt fire in Aleppo on Thursday, as criticism mounted of the ferocious Moscow-backed assault on the Syrian city.

"We have taken a decision not to waste time and to introduce 'humanitarian pauses', mainly for the free passage of civilians, evacuation of the sick and wounded and withdrawal of fighters," senior Russian military officer Sergei Rudskoi said at a press briefing.

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Syria Security Chief in First Public Foreign Visit to Egypt

Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk met with Egyptian officials in his first public foreign visit in five years, state media in Damascus said on Monday.

State news agency SANA said Mamluk met with Egyptian head of general intelligence Khaled Fawzy and other "high-level security officials" during his one-day visit.

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Air Raids Kill at Least 12 Civilians in Syria's Aleppo

Air strikes killed at least 12 civilians in Syria's Aleppo on Monday, a monitor said, bringing to 45 the number killed in 24 hours of bombardment on the battleground city.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five children were among the dead on Monday in the rebel-held district of Marjeh in east Aleppo.

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Battle for Mosul Sparks Fears of Humanitarian Crisis

The battle to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from jihadists could unleash a massive humanitarian crisis, potentially pushing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes as winter sets in.

Mosul, the country's second city, was seized by the Islamic State group in 2014, and is now the last major population centre in Iraq still held by the jihadists, who have lost much of the territory they seized two years ago.

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Mogherini: EU Not Considering Russia Sanctions over Syria

The EU is not considering sanctions against Russia for its role in Syria but further measures against its ally Damascus are possible, the bloc's foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Monday.

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Bahrain Court Overturns Jail Term of Opposition Chief

A top court in Bahrain on Monday overturned a nine-year jail term against Shiite opposition chief cleric Ali Salman, convicted of inciting hatred and calling for forceful regime change.

The court of the cassation ordered a retrial of the head of the Al-Wefaq political formation before the appeals court, said a judicial source.

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US-Led Coalition Says Mosul Op Could Take Weeks or More

The operation Iraqi forces launched on Monday to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State group could last weeks and "possibly longer", a top US general said.

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