Both groups subscribe to a harsh interpretation of Islam, but the Taliban have focused on taking control of Afghanistan, while ISIS affiliates in Afghanistan and elsewhere call for global jihad.

Since celebrating the fall of Kabul a month ago, after years of waging a holy war to overthrow the U.S.-backed government, the 250 Taliban fighters under Abdulrahman Nifiz’s command have struggled to adjust to their new day job: the mundane task of securing a city.

The Iranian-backed Houthis on Saturday publicity executed the nine by firing squad. Hundreds of people, mostly Houthis and their supporters, attended the execution in the infamous Tahrir square in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa.

The Hala Akhbar news site, which is linked to Jordan's military, reported that the meeting between Jordanian Gen. Yousef Huneiti and Syrian Gen. Ali Ayoub was "to increase coordination in the field of border security to serve the interests of the two brotherly countries."

Al-Hol detention camp has become an ever more dangerous and desperate place. Religious militancy is on the rise, imperiling those who are not as fanatical. Killings are often blamed on hard-line women who take advantage of the fragile security to enforce their strictures and settle scores.

Iran's top leader has appointed a pilot of Russian fighter jets to command the nation's air force, state television reported Sunday. It said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's choice is Air Force Brig. Gen. Hamid Vahedi.

Witnesses, meanwhile, said an explosion targeted a Taliban vehicle in the eastern provincial city of Jalalabad, and hospital officials said five people were killed in the second such deadly blast in as many days in the Islamic State stronghold.

The attack came on the third day of a five-day polio vaccination drive across the province. It's part of a nationwide program to eradicate the crippling disease by the end of 2021.

The two were captured during an Israeli army raid in their hometown of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, closing an intense, embarrassing pursuit that exposed security flaws after the six tunneled out of their cell on Sept. 6.

Horrified by the Taliban’s strict dress codes for female students, an Afghanistan historian rallied women to share photos of themselves wearing traditional Afghan dresses.