Oman does not get involved in regional politics and places a high value on religious tolerance.

The jihadist group said it has taken the town of Gwoza in the north by force and that it intends to govern the whole of Nigeria under Islamic law.

The US says three of Africa’s militant groups are striving to coordinate their operations and represent a threat to security on the continent.

Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists has urged residents of the flashpoint city of Kano to "persevere" as the group attacks the country’s security services.

Seventy-two people were killed in clashes between supporters of a radical Islamic preacher and police who went to arrest him, Chad said on Wednesday.

Egyptian expert on radical Islamists, Dia Rashwan, says recent al-Qaeda propaganda footage from Iraq is old and cannot mask the crisis it is facing.