Friday, December 21, 2012
The UN Security Council has voted to approve the creation of an African military force to restore northern Mali to government control. The area has been controlled by rebels since an ill-fated coup earlier this year.
The resolution passed in a unanimous vote on Thursday, approving the deployment of an African-led intervention force to be known as AFISMA for a period of one year. The draft authorized the force to take “all necessary measures” to assist the government of Mali in efforts aimed at “recovering the areas in the north of its territory under the control of terrorist, extremist and armed groups.”
“All necessary measures” is diplomatic code for the use of military force.
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A Burmese soldier waits for a train in Rangoon with his fellow soldiers as they head to the frontlines of the conflict in Kachin State. (Photo: Reuters)
As war escalates in Burma’s northernmost state, ethnic rebels fighting for their basic rights have killed and injured more than 60 government soldiers in response to an attack on their headquarters, an allied armed group claimed on Monday.
The All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), an armed group fighting alongside ethnic rebels in northern Kachin State, said government forces suffered the casualties on Friday after launching an offensive in Lajayang region, near the rebels’ headquarters in the town of Laiza, where about 70,000 displaced civilians are staying in refugee camps.
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Palestinian camp of Yarmourk, on southern outskirts of Damascus, is again under attack of artillery fire by government forces.
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A Palestinian source confirmed on Tuesday that armed militia has stormed the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees and that they are in full control of it.
Anwar Raja, spokesman of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian General Command (PFLP-GC), told Xinhua that the armed militia, including the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, have entered the camp like “Berber Tatars and Mongols,” adding that they have carried out looting and burglaries in homes and shops.
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Monday, December 17, 2012
Sudanese rebels shot down a military Antonov plane while it was bombing an area in western South Kordofan state, said SPLM-North spokesperson.
In a statement release Monday, Arnu Ngutulu Lodi said that their anti-aircraft machine guns had downed the airplane on Tuesday 11 December around 11.00 am (local time) in Um Karisha area western South Kordofan.
Before to down it the Antonov was bombing Um Dorrain location, he said.
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