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8:49 P.M. ISIS released video purporting to show mass execution in Palmyra

The militant Islamic State group released a video on Saturday purporting to show the mass execution of 25 Syrian soldiers in a Roman-era amphitheater in the city of Palmyra, AFP reported.

The mass execution allegedly occurred shortly after the city was captured by Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, on May 21.

The video shows teenaged boys, clad in desert camouflage and brown bandanas, shooting the soldiers dead on the amphitheater's stage in front of a huge ISIS flag. (Haaretz)

8:37 P.M. Egypt foiled extremist 'state' in Sinai, president says

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, wearing battle dress for the first time in over a year, said Saturday that Egypt had foiled an attempt by the Islamic State group to seize territory and set up an extremist state with its recent assault on the military in the troubled northeastern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

In combat fatigues he had said he hung up for good when he ran for president, the general-turned-politician met members of the army and delivered a televised speech to troops in Sinai, his first public comments on Wednesday's unprecedented attack.

He said the group had tried to announce "an Islamic state, in their concept, an Islamic State in Sinai. "These are the messages, very simply, that they are putting out to us," he said, adding that the area was now under control.

Sissi praised the troops for "foiling a very big plan."

"No one can impose on the Egyptians something they don't want," he said. "To reach the Egyptians they have to pass through the army, the sons of Egypt. (AP)

7:15 Egypt says 25 militants killed in air strikes as Sisi inspects troops

Egyptian warplanes killed 25 Islamist militants in North Sinai on Saturday, security sources said, as the Egyptian president visited the province after a major escalation of the conflict there.

The sources said the air strikes hit militant targets near the town of Sheikh Zuweid, destroying weapons and explosives caches.

They also said security forces had found about half a ton of explosives in a tunnel on the border between the Sinai and Gaza. (Reuters)

6:05 P.M. Iraqi jets drop leaflets over Mosul promising to recapture city

Iraqi jets dropped leaflets over Mosul telling residents that Islamic State fighters would soon be driven from the northern city, saying details of the operation would be broadcast on a new radio station.

"The solution, with God's help, is close," said the leaflets, which were issued in the name of the Iraqi army and were dropped over Mosul on Friday. "Your armed forces are at the gate, cooperate with them."

Despite that promise, there has been no sign of an imminent military operation against Islamic State in Mosul.

The leaflets also promised a new radio station, Mosul FM, would start broadcasting soon and urged residents to carry a small radio with them at all times to receive instructions about the battle for Mosul.

Mosul residents contacted by telephone said Islamic State fighters were deployed in the areas of the city where the leaflets were dropped, telling passers-by to stay away. (Reuters)

5:24 P.M. Tunisian leader calls state of emergency, state media says

Tunisia's state news agency says the country's president is declaring a state of emergency more than a week after a beach attack targeting foreign tourists that killed 38 people.

The news agency said President Beji Caid Essebsi would address the nation later Saturday.

Thirty of the 38 dead in the attack on the Tunisian resort of Sousse were British tourists. The gunman was killed by police and the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the massacre, a blow to Tunisia's budding democracy and tourism industry. (AP)

1:00 P.M. Egypt's el-Sissi meets with troops in Sinai after deadly attacks

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has travelled to the troubled northern part of the Sinai Peninsula to inspect troops, after Islamic State-linked militants struck a deadly blow against the military this week in a coordinated assault.

An official close to the president says el-Sissi met members of the army and police Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information otherwise.

El-Sissi has not addressed the public since the Sinai attack. (AP)

12:45 P.M. Yemen's Houthis confirm Ramadan ceasefire talks underway

Yemen's dominant Houthi movement said on Saturday a pause in fighting to last until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was under discussion with the United Nations to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said in a post on his Facebook page he had met UN special envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Friday to discuss the matter.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday called for a "humanitarian pause" in the conflict during Ramadan to allow international aid groups to deliver urgently needed food, medicine and fuel. (Reuters)

10:55 A.M. Hezbollah joins Syrian regime in attack on rebel-held city in Syria

The Syrian army and its allied militia have launched a major assault on the rebel-held Syrian city of Zabadani, the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group's television station said on Saturday.

It said heavy artillery and aerial bombardment were being deployed to capture the city, located west of the Syrian capital near the frontier with Lebanon. An announcement of the start of a military campaign by the Syrian army and "resistance forces", a term used by the Lebanese group to describe Hezbollah's forces, had been expected in recent days.

The group that is fighting alongside the Syrian army in Syria against radical jihadists, has in recent months stepped up its assault on their outposts along the Qalamoun mountain region straddling the Lebanese Syrian border. (Reuters)



4:30 A.M. Yemen's Houthis kill Saudi soldiers in cross border shelling

Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its army allies said on Saturday it had shelled various areas in Saudi Arabia's Jizan and Najran, killing and wounding several soldiers.

The Houthi-controlled Saba news agency said 13 shells had been launched on Friday, targeting several areas including Jizan's airport.

The shelling also led to the destruction of military equipment, the agency said, quoting an unnamed military source. The source did not say how many Saudi soldiers had been killed. (Reuters)

2:10 A.M. Death toll rises to 25 in attack on mosque in Idlib, Syria

An explosion at a mosque in Syria's Idlib province on Friday killed at least 25 members of the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, the British-based Observatory monitoring group said.

The blast in the town of Ariha in northwestern Syria went off as members of the Nusra Front gathered at the mosque for iftar, the meal with which Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan,

Observatory, which tracks the war, said the explosion in Salem Mosque in Ariha, also killed a senior non-Syrian member of the hardline jihadist organisation. Opposition-based social media websites had conflicting casualty figures with some saying more than 40 people were dead. (Reuters)

1:45 A.M. Car bombs explode in Libya's Derma, at least 6 killed

At least six people were killed and 10 others wounded when several car bombs exploded in the Libyan city of Derna, a medical source said on Friday.

Derna has been caught in fighting between Islamic State militants, rival Islamist fighters and armed forces with the country's internationally recognized government.

The eastern port city is just one front in a multi-sided conflict in the North African country, where two rival governments and various armed groups are fighting for control four years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. (Reuters)