The Taliban's spring offensive will begin April 28, the group's leadership said April 27, AP reported.

Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, is not in Sudanese border areas, a spokesman for Sudan's armed forces said April 27, Sudan News Agency 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 U.N. Council approved a resolution that will establish a 12,600-strong peacekeeping force in Mali on April 25, AP reported in a message posted on Twitter.

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.

French troops in Timbuktu ceded control of the city to forces of the African-led support mission in Mali, RFI reported April 24.

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.