Syria launched a series of airstrikes targeting a stronghold of the Islamic State extremist group today, killing at least 25 people, most of whom died when one of the missiles slammed into a crowded bakery, activists said.

A master bomb maker who once targeted commercial planes and was suspected of aiding the Iraqi uprising has fled to Lebanon, an FBI official said.

Defying a Palestinian Authority ban on public displays of weapons, about 1,000 militants brandishing assault rifles and rocket launchers marched through Gaza City today and vowed to hold on to their arms.