French warplanes have destroyed two Islamist bases in northern Mali as an Al-Qaeda-linked group there split, with the splinter group calling for talks to end the offensive against the militants.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will lift a ban on women serving in combat, officials said Wednesday -- a ground-breaking move after a decade of war that saw female troops thrust onto the battlefield.
Rebels trying to break a months-long deadlock in their battle for Syria's second city Aleppo say they are cutting supply routes ahead of simultaneous assaults on regime bases.
The first troops from a multinational African intervention force were expected in Mali Wednesday as French soldiers drove out to face Islamist fighters in the north, in their first operation.
President Barack Obama on Friday said NATO troops would speed up a transfer of lead security responsibility to Afghan forces this spring, in a sign the pace of US troop withdrawals could quicken.
A soldier serving with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan was shot dead by a man in Afghan army uniform, the latest in a series of "insider" attacks.
The US Defense Department has prepared plans for a smaller presence in Afghanistan after the White House insisted on examining the option of leaving fewer troops in the country.
France will take in Afghans whose security is at risk after having worked with its troops in the war-ravaged country, joining other Western nations facing a similar quandary.
Rebels in the Central African Republic seized a town near the border with Chad on Wednesday, a day after Chadian troops entered the country at Bangui's request to help the army contain the rebel offensive.
Syrian troops shelled a besieged town near Damascus and clashed with rebels on the outskirts of the capital on Saturday as the country's conflict entered its 22nd month, a watchdog and activists said.
Despite an easing of tensions with the United States, Pakistan is persistently undermining security in Afghanistan by permitting safe havens for insurgents.
Rebels and government troops raped and killed civilians and looted towns during battles in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month with children suffering dramatically.
The administration of President Barack Obama aims to keep around 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan after formal combat operations in that country end in 2014.
South Korean troops and riot police on Monday prevented activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border after North Korea threatened a "merciless" military response.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has warned of possible problems ahead over the sensitive issue of immunity from prosecution for any American or NATO soldiers deployed in the country after 2014.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has voiced frustration with Afghan President Hamid Karzai preferring to "criticize" American troops, rather than acknowledging the sacrifices they have made.