Saturday, August 31, 2013
After a period of relative calm, Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and a combined force of Burmese Army and Border Guard Forces fought a series of battles this week in Kachin and northern Shan State.
About 100 soldiers from a combined force of Burmese army’s 505th and 506th Light Infantry Battalions launched a new assault on Kachin people militia positions in Mungpaw in northern Shan State on Aug 20 at 10:30 am. Kachin people militia troops, composed mostly of local civilians, serve under KIA’s 4th Brigade, 2nd Battalion.
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Friday, August 30, 2013
Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels suspended fighting and withdrew from the frontline on Friday to allow an independent investigation into shelling that hit neighboring Rwanda, its leader said.
Rwanda accused Congo on Thursday of shelling its territory and said such “provocation” would not be tolerated, raising fears of an escalation in the conflict in eastern Congo where army troops and U.N. peacekeepers have been battling the rebels.
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Thursday, August 29, 2013
U.S. efforts to forge an international coalition to support a military strike on Syria faced fresh uncertainty Thursday, as British Prime Minister David Cameron confronted a political fight in Parliament over military action and France called for a delay until U.N. inspectors finish their work on the ground.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Cameron pledged that Britain would take no action until the United Nations had reviewed a report from weapons inspectors, who are in Syria examining the sites of an alleged chemical attack last week that left hundreds dead.
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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says he is ready to start negotiating peace with the country’s second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), ‘as soon as possible.’
Santos hailed the rebels’ release this week of a Canadian hostage and said ‘the government is ready to start a dialogue with the ELN as soon as possible,’ in a statement released by his office on thursday.
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Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Members of the militant group Boko Haram have killed at least 24 people in two separate attacks in Nigeria’s Borno state, according to officials.
The two attacks were carried out on Sunday and Monday earlier this week, and are thought to have targeted military-supported vigilantes in the area. It is believed that at least 14 people were killed during Sunday’s attack on a vigilante meeting in the village of Bama, with a further attack on Monday in the village of Damasak, which lies on the border with Niger.
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