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The rebel SPLM-In-Opposition on Sunday accused South Sudan army (SPLA) of breaching Friday’s ceasefire agreement after it allegedly launched series of attacks on its Unity and Upper Nile states positions.
The rebel spokesperson, Lul Ruai Koang told Sudan Tribune that pro-government forces shelled their positions in Upper Nile state on Saturday evening.
Militants in northern Iraq ambushed an army convoy and abducted at least 20 soldiers before shooting them in the head, army officials said today - the latest in a growing series of execution-style attacks in the country.
The ambush took place yesterday near Ain al-Jahash in the northern province of Nineveh, one of the most unstable regions in Iraq and through which a long section of pipeline runs on its course from the Kirkuk oilfields to neighbouring Turkey.
As pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine prepared to hold a referendum on whether to declare their independence on Sunday, acting President Oleksander Turchinov warned that a “yes” vote could mean self-destruction.
The vote will be held in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where pro-Russian separatists have occupied government buildings in a number of towns, and have taken complete control of the city Slaviansk. The referendum has been dismissed by Ukraine’s government and other Western countries as illegitimate.
South Sudan’s president has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rebel leader, an African regional bloc said on Friday, after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm.
The deal means “an immediate cessation of hostilities within 24 hours of the signing” and “unhindered humanitarian access” to all people affected by the months-long conflict, said a statement by the political bloc known as IGAD, which is mediating the conflict.
The Afghan Taliban have announced that they will launch a “spring offensive” from May 12, with attacks across the country at a time when foreign troops were devising an exit strategy.
The announcement this year comes just weeks ahead of the presidential election runoff as no candidate secured 50 percent plus one vote in the April 5 polls. The second round is expected in mid-June.