Isis: Former Saudi soldier jailed for nine years for joining Islamic State

A former Saudi soldier has been jailed for nine years after being found guilty of joining Islamic State (Isis). The man, who has not been named, denied joining the terrorist organisation and communicating with other terror groups in Syria after travelling illegally to Syria via Turkey.

Other charges included learning, dismantling and assembling Kalashnikov rifles. The court in Jeddah also banned him from travelling for nine years following his jail term and fined him £850, ($1,333), according to Al Arabiya news.

Defence secretary Michael Fallon said the UK will extend airstrikes against IS by an additional year to March 2017.

For more than a year now, IS has been able to hold on to most of the huge areas it has occupied in Iraq and Syria, something al-Qaeda never achieved and was earning oil revenues of $40m a month and replenishing its ranks faster than they were being killed off, in which Fallon admitted makes it a long fight.