One of the most significant Islamic State leaders, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, has been killed in an attack in Syria, the group announced on Tuesday. 

Mr Adnani served as a spokesperson for the group and head of operations overseas, and such is believed to have been key in attacks aimed at European targets. 

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The United States spoke out against violence between the Turkish military and Kurdish militias in northern Syria, calling on both sides to concentrate on fighting the Islamic State.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a press conference that his government had "called on both sides to not fight with one another, to continue to focus the fight on ISIL".

The Islamic State has claimed a suicide attack in Yemen on Monday, which left fifty-four people dead. 

A car ladened with explosives was driven into a militia compound in Aden, Reuters reported. 

"Around 60 dead in a martyrdom operation by a fighter from Islamic State targeting a recruitment center in Aden city," a statement published by the Amaq news agency reportedly said. 

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After four years of intense fighting, Syrian opposition groups have left the town of Darayya, allowing Syrian government forces to take control of the region under a deal.

Government forces moved into the town as opposition fighters and civilians evacuated towards the city of Idlib. "The Syrian army completely controls Daraya and has entered all of the town. There isn't a single armed man there," an anonymous source told AFP.

The Colombian government on Wednesday signed a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), bringing to five decades of violence. 

“Today I can say - from the bottom of my heart - that I have fulfilled the mandate that you gave me,” the Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos was quoted by Reuters as saying, referring to his 2014 electoral victory on the pledge of a peace deal. 

The deal was signed after almost four years of negotiations and will now be put forward to the public in a referendum on October 2.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday called on the international community "to establish an international, independent body to carry out comprehensive investigations in Yemen" after a UN Human Rights Council report highlighting the extent of human rights violations. 

Over 3500 civiians are believed to have been killed since March 2015 in the conflict. 

“The perpetuation of the conflict and its consequences on the population in Yemen are devastating,” the report, released today, stated. 

Syrian fighters backed by the Turkish military and US airstrikes have seized control of a Syrian border town from the Islamic State, according to the latest reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that fighters had retaken the town of Jarablus, after Turkish troops crossed the border into Syria to assist in the fight against Islamic State.
The military operation takes place as US Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Turkey and expressed solidarity with Ankara.

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned the Nigerian military against launching a “crackdown” and committing human rights abuses in the conflict with Boko Haram, at an address in Sokoto, Nigeria today.

Expressing the United States support for the Nigerian government’s war against Boko Haram, Mr Kerry said trust must be built in government structures in order to counter violent extremism.

“It is understandable in the wake of terrorist activity, some people are tempted to crackdown on everyone and anyone who could theoretically pose some sort of a threat,” he said. “I caution against that today. Extremism cannot be defeated through repression.”

The international aid agency Oxfam criticised Britain's policy of selling arms to Saudi Arabia, and described ministers as being in "denial and disarray".

Oxfam accused Britain of going from being an "enthusiastic backer" of the Arms Trade Treaty to "one of the most significant violators" and is expected to raise the issue of sales to Saudi Arabia at the second conference of states party to the treaty in Geneva today.

The Islamist extremist accused of destroying the historic site in Timbuktu pleaded guilty as his trial at the International Criminal Court began on Monday. 

The trial is the first such ICC war crimes trial over the destruction of a site of historic or cultural signifcance. 

Ahmad Al Faqi al-Mahdi, who was a member of a group close to Al Qaeda, told the trial that he entered a guilty plea "with deep regret and great pain". 

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said that Mr Mahdi was “who identified the sites to be destroyed and who provided the means”.