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Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 0600 GMT, April 28

Xinhua, April 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Taliban on Friday announced the start of their yearly rebel offensive in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has codenamed their offensive "operation Mansoori" referring to their leader Mohammad Akhtar Mansoor who was killed in a U.S. drone strike along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border last year, they said in a statement. (Afghanistan-Taliban-Offensive)

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WELLINGTON -- New Zealand and Australian troops in Iraq will train about 2,000 Iraqi Security Forces personnel in the next fortnight to fight Islamic State insurgents, the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) said Friday.

"A steady flow of capable personnel is crucial in sustaining the counter-offensive against the terrorist group," Major General Tim Gall, the Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, said in a statement. (New Zealand-Iraq-Troops)

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CANBERRA -- Three dual-national Australians, alleged to have been Islamic State (IS) jihadists captured by army forces in Lebanon, could have their Australian citizenships stripped, according to Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne on Friday.

The men, believed to be Lebanese-Australians, were arrested at gunpoint during army raids after a Syrian-born colleague, who was captured last year, admitted to living with the three dual nationals while working with IS. (Australia-IS-Jihadists)

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SEOUL -- South Korea's presidential frontrunner kept widening a gap with his runner-up in polls, with less than two weeks left before a presidential election.

According to a Gallup Korea survey released Friday, Moon Jae-in of the biggest Minjoo Party gained 40 percent of support, far exceeding his runner-up Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor center-right People's Party who garnered 24 percent. (South Korea-Frontrunner-Polls) Enditem