Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ecuador.

Today's three stories you should know.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban appears to have a huge challenge on its hands as the ISIS affiliate in the country steps up attacks. In the latest incident, 10 people were killed and 20 wounded when a mosque was targeted in the capital Kabul. IS-K, as the ISIS offshoot is known, has attacked both civilian and Shia muslim religious sites. Though the Taliban and IS-K are both Sunni muslim, the two are sworn enemies. While the Taliban’s aim was to push foreign forces out of the country and take power, IS-K says it is fighting to establish a caliphate stretching from Turkey to Pakistan.

More from Al Jazeera here.

Ethiopia

As mentioned in Proximities earlier this week, Ethiopia’s TPLF rebels say they have pulled out of a key region as a concession aimed at persuading the government to lift a blockade on Tigray, their home region, and let food aid in. The government, though, has now said the TPLF is lying. While the two sides bicker, aid groups warn that hundreds of thousands of people in the region are living in famine-like conditions.

More from Africa News here.

Ecuador

Ecuador, struggling with rampant gang violence, has declared a state of emergency in three provinces - the second time President Guillermo Lasso has used emergency powers since last year. Some 9,000 police and soldiers will be deployed to the provinces for two months and a curfew imposed between 11pm and 5am.

More from BBC here.