The embassy of a Gulf country was advised to step up its security measures and take maximum precautions to avert a double suicide bombing by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

According to As Safir newspaper published on Friday, security agencies obtained information that ISIL is planning to target the Gulf embassy, which was not specified, with a double suicide bombing.

The family of journalist Austin Tice, missing in Syria since mid-2012, said Thursday they believe he is alive as they stepped up a campaign to win his release.

They unveiled a campaign that will feature digital #FreeAustinTice banners on hundreds of websites of major media groups later this month.

Police special forces carried out a raid Thursday in a Bosnian village home to Muslim fundamentalists, after media published photos of local houses displaying the flag of the Islamic State group.

By the time forces arrived "the flags were no longer hanging" in the northeastern village of Gornja Maoca, said Kristina Jozic, a spokeswoman for state police agency SIPA.

The Islamic State group has learned from the mistakes of past jihadist movements and established a near-impregnable base of support within Iraq and Syria with spectacular appeal to many of the world's Sunni Muslims, a new book has warned.

The authors of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror", published this month in the U.S., spoke to dozens of fighters and members of the group to understand its allure and how it justifies its brutal tactics.

Jordan said its warplanes launched new strikes Thursday against the Islamic State group, after vowing a harsh response to the burning alive of one of its fighter pilots captured in Syria.

The news came as scores of people were killed when rebels unleashed deadly rocket fire on the Syrian capital and President Bashar Assad's air forces and artillery retaliated.

The General Directorate of State Security detained in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday three Syrians for forging entry documents for Syrian refugees to cross into Lebanon.

The state-run National News Agency reported that Abdul Jawad Salloum, Mahmoud Nayef and Maamoun al-Ilka were arrested in the eastern Bekaa towns of Bar Elias and Majdal Anjar.

The Syrian opposition and members of President Bashar Assad's regime are reportedly holding meetings in Beirut under the auspices of Norway and the supervision of priest Riad Jarjour, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

The daily said that “secret meetings” have been held in the Lebanese capital in presence of political and religious figures from both sides.

Amnesty International slammed Spain on Wednesday over conditions in overcrowded refugee centers where it says hundreds of Syrians fleeing war are awaiting asylum.

The international human rights watchdog cited one of Spain's key reception centers for undocumented immigrants, in the Spanish territory of Melilla which borders Morocco.

A senior Hamas leader called Wednesday for the formation of Palestinian militant groups loyal to his Gaza-based Islamist movement in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria for attacks on Israel.

Mahmud Zahar told reporters in the Gaza Strip that Lebanese and Syrian branches of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, should launch attacks on Israel "to help us liberate Palestine".

Hizbullah on Wednesday condemned as a “brutal crime” the execution by burning of Jordanian fighter pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh at the hands of the Islamic State group, describing the IS militants as “butchers.”

“Hizbullah condemns the brutal, heinous crime that was committed by the IS gang against the Jordanian pilot,” the party said in a statement.