Taliban fighters have launched deadly attacks on troops and villages in Afghanistan.

Around 500 militants launched attacks on two villages in Ghor, a province in the centre of Afghanistan. A local official told the BBC that details about casualty figures are not yet known.

At least 4 Afghan soldiers were killed when militants attacked security posts in Logar province in the east of the country.

Last week the Taliban launched attacks in the north of the country, killing at least 22 members of the Afghan security forces.

The Iraqi government has approved a deal with Australia, which will see 200 members of Australian special forces train Iraqi troops to fight against Islamic State.

Legal protection for the troops demanded by Australia caused a row between the countries and delayed the signing of the agreement, with the troops waiting in the UAE for over a month.

Fire was exchanged across the border between North and South Korea on Sunday, the second time skirmishes erupted in the past 10 days.

Reports indicate that North Korean troops approached the border in response to a leafleting campaign by the South, after which southern troops opened fire.

The first border clash on October 10, came after North Korean soldiers fired at balloons released from across the border, carrying leaflets critical of Kim Jong-un.

The Indonesian government should dismiss charges against two French journalists in the eastern regions of Papua and end restrictions on foreign media in the region, said Human Rights Watch on Thursday.

The journalists, Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois, who were arrested whilst producing a documentary, are set to face trial on 20 October on charges of “abusive use of entry visas.”

Iraqi pilots who joined Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria are training members of the group to fly three captured fighter jets, reports Reuters.

The militants have been flying planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo said the director of the Britain based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein,” said Rami Abdulrahman.

A second massacre in as many days on the Democratic Republic of Congo, has left at least 20 people dead, taking the toll to over 46.

Both massacres took place near the town of Beni, on the Ugandan border. Most of the victims were women and children, who were killed with guns, machetes and axes.

Beni's mayor accused Ugandan militant group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), of the massacres.

Several people have been killed in two attacks by Nigerian militants just a day after the government announced a ceasefire with Boko Haram militants to enable the release of 200 abducted girls reports Reuters.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks and the government is doubtful of whether Boko Haram are responsible for the attacks or whether they are the works of several other criminal groups exploiting the instability in the region.