Lebanese militant group Hezbollah denied reports that it sent an unmanned aerial vehicle into Israeli airspace April 25, Al Arabiya reported.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said April 25 that the United States has evidence chemical weapons have been used in Syria, CNN reported. Hagel said that evidence suggests limited amounts of sarin have been used by the Syrian regime. Previously the United States had said that the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer" on U.S. policy toward the conflict in the country.

An Iraqi armed forces helicopter went down in the northern part of the Iraqi city of Baqubah, Al Arabiya reported April 25.

The Israeli air force has downed an unmanned aerial vehicle that allegedly was flown into Israeli airspace by Hezbollah in Lebanon, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said April 25, Al Arabiya reported.

Kurdish militant group the Kurdistan Workers' Party, commonly known as the PKK, will start withdrawing from Turkey in early May, a senior PKK leader said, Hurriyet reported April 25.

At least 20 Iraqi policemen were killed April 25 in clashes with Sunni militants in Mosul, military sources said, Reuters reported.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces on April 25 captured Otaybah, a strategic town east of Damascus, Syrian activists and state media said, AP reported.

Federal police and Iraqi soldiers clashed with gunmen in four areas of Mosul on April 24, Almada Press reported.

At least 15 people were killed in clashes between Iraqi security forces and militants in the town of Sulaiman Pek on April 24, a mayor of a nearby town said, Reuters reported.

Two mortar bombs hit a government-held suburb of Damascus on April 24, killing seven and injuring more than 25, activists said, Reuters reported, citing Sana.