Wars in the World

Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov says four suspected militants have been killed during a security operation in Kyrgyzstan’s southern city of Osh.

He said the four were connected to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

“Three terrorists, who fired automatic weapons, were killed,” Imankulov told reporters. “One blew himself up with a grenade. As a result, the ceiling of the room where they were hiding collapsed, and now special forces are cleaning up the place. So, three militants were killed, one blew himself up.”

Osh police chief Pamir Asanov said two other militants were captured during the operation and added the security operation was continuing.

Asanov said the fighting created panic in Osh, where tensions linger in the wake of ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek clashes in June that left some 400 people dead and caused widespread destruction in Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city.

Imankulov said two policemen were injured in a gun battle during the raid.

A local police spokesman was quoted earlier as saying the operation targeted members of banned Islamist group Hizb-ut Tahrir.

The News:
http://www.rferl.org … sh_raid/2233924.html

About 1,000 villagers escaped to the Thai border town of Mae Sot, adding to 200 who fled late Saturday when clashes erupted between Myanmar troops and militias from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) for the second time this month.

Fighting broke out in two locations on November 8 and a splinter faction of the Karen group seized parts of the Myanmar town of Myawaddy. More than 12,000 people poured into Mae Sot and five Thais were wounded when rocket-propelled grenades landed on the other side of the border.

The clashes underline tensions between the central government and Myanmar’s many armed ethnic groups, which have fought for autonomy since independence from Britain in 1948. More than a dozen have tenuous cease-fire deals with the government.

Myanmar’s military rulers have demanded the ethnic militias disarm and join a state-run Border Guard Force but most have resisted and the larger armies are braced for offensives, which could result in heavy casualties.

The News:
http://uk.reuters.co … dUKTRE6AR1BA20101128

Escalating fighting between al-Houthi Shia rebels and pro-government militia in Yemen’s remote northwestern districts of Qutabir and Monabih has forced dozens of families across the border into Saudi Arabia, according to local officials.

“As a result of recurrent clashes between al-Houthi and tribesmen supporting the government, dozens of families from our district infiltrated over the past three days into the southern region of the kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] in search of safety and better living conditions,” Mohammed Hatabah, a local council member from Qutabir district, in the Saada governorate, told IRIN.

He said some of the families had only just returned home to Saada after several months in displaced persons camps, or among host communities, following last year’s heavy fighting between government forces and al-Houthi rebels.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said in a statement on 23 November it was in the process of dispatching a team from its regional office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, “to establish the numbers and assess needs” of those who have managed to cross the border.

Since a ceasefire was announced in mid-February 2010, sporadic fighting between al-Houthi forces and pro-government tribes has broken out across the Saada governorate and in the northern part of Amran governorate.

The News:
http://www.yemenonli … .info/news-1690.html

Southern Sudan’s armed forces have accused the northern military of carrying out an air strike on one of their bases, wounding four soldiers and two civilians.

“A SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) helicopter gunship attacked SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) positions at Kiirabem, in North Bahr al-Ghazal, wounding four SPLA soldiers and two civilians,” Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the SPLA, said.

“The intention of the SAF in this move is to try to disrupt the referendum process,” he said in a statement.

The leaders of north and south Sudan have accused each other of building up troops in the border region ahead of the January 9 poll in which southerners will be asked if they want independence from the north.

While the south is seen likely to vote for secession, the north would like to keep the country whole.

If confirmed, the attack would be the second time this month the north has bombed targets in the south.

The News:
http://english.aljaz … 124164126907518.html

President Lee Myung-bak ordered his military Tuesday to punish North Korea for its artillery attacks “through action,” not just words, saying it is important to stop the communist regime from contemplating additional provocation.

“The provocation this time can be regarded as an invasion of South Korean territory. In particular, indiscriminate attacks on civilians are a grave matter,” a stern-faced Lee said during a visit to the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in central Seoul.

The North fired some 100 coastline artillery rounds across the western sea border onto Yeonpyeong Island Tuesday afternoon, killing two marines and wounding more than a dozen others. Three civilians on the small island, home to more than 1,600 residents, mostly fishermen and their families, and a marine corps base, were also wounded.

The attack set houses and forests on fire on the island that lies just south of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border between the two Koreas drawn at the end of their 1950-53 war.

The News:
http://english.yonha … 01123013700315F.HTML