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Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Feb. 5

Xinhua, February 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Somalia national army on Thursday killed eight Al-Shabaab militants and recovered lethal weapons during an operation in central Somalia.

Officials confirmed the death of the militants after a fierce exchange of gunfire with security forces in the town of Mahaday located in the central Shabelle region. (Somalia-Al-Shabaab-Military Operation)

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GENEVA -- The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention announced on Friday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been "arbitrarily detained" since the Australian national was first arrested in London in December 2010.

"It is a very complicated and unusual case," said the Working Group's Secretary Christophe Peschoux, adding that "it's important to make a distinction between the legality of a detention and its arbitrariness." (Switzerland-WikiLeaks-Assange-Detention)

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NEW DELHI -- At least 20 people were killed when a bus plunged into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Friday, police said. (India-Road Accident)

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ANKARA -- A total of 30 rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in the military operations staged by the Turkish security forces in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, said a military statement on Friday.

The Turkish security forces killed 11 PKK militants in Cizre town of Sirnak province, seven in Sur town of Diyarbakir province and 12 in Hakkari province, said the statement released by the Turkish Armed Forces. (Turkey-PKK-Military Operation)

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RIYADH -- A Saudi general said on Thursday that his country is ready to participate in a ground operations in Syria to against fight Islamic State (IS) militants, Al Arabiya local TV reported.

Brigadier Ahmed Asiri, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen, told an interview with the Arabiya TV that Saudi Arabia is ready to join ground operations in the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group in Syria. (Saudi-Arabia-Syrian Crisis) Endi