Five ethnic armed groups, including two major Karen and Shan rebel organizations, held peace talks with a Naypyidaw delegation at the Thai-Burmese border on Saturday and three informally agreed a ceasefire, according to sources.

The Karen National Union (KNU) and Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) met with a Burmese government delegation led by Aung Min, the minister for railways, who was sent by President Thein Sein.

“We talked about peace. We asked what was the role for ethnic armed groups in the government’s peace process,” said Maj Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the SSA-South.

“The Minister, Aung Min, explained to us that there are three steps toward the emergence of peace—a ceasefire, cooperation between ceasefire groups and Naypyidaw for development, and a meeting hosted by the government to tackle unsolved political conflicts,” he added.

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At least 40 al Shabaab fighters are reported to have been seriously injured following fighting between them and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government troops in Kulbiyow and Badhaadhe areas in Lower Juba.

Kenya Defence Forces and TFG troops backed by Ras Kamboni militia have been slowly moving into al Shabaab strongholds and taking over training camps in the joint quest to rout the militia.

The injured fighters who have since withdrawn from their camps were transported from a forested area between Kulbiyow and Badhaadhe in their battle wagons to a hospital.

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Several hundred Ethiopian troops crossed on Saturday into southern and central Somalia, local elders said, but Addis Ababa dismissed the reports as ‘absolutely not true.’

‘There are several hundred Ethiopian troops here in lorries and some armoured vehicles too,’ said elder Abdi Ibrahim Warsame, speaking by telephone from Gurel town, in Somalia’s central Galgudud region.

Ethiopian forces were also reported in the Hiran region at the town of Beletweyne, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) into Somalia, an area contested by Islamist al-Shabaab rebels and pro-government militia.

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Somalia’s Islamist rebels attacked government and African Union troops positions in the war-torn capital, killing four civilians and wounding 12 others, officials and witnesses said Friday.

Heavy fighting broke out late Thursday around four positions held by AU-backed government forces and included heavy machinegun fire and mortar rounds, with reports that civilian houses were caught in the crossfire.

“Terrorists launched desperate attacks on our military positions on Thursday night, but they were repelled with heavy losses, after targeting three positions in the south and one in the northern part of the city,” said Colonel Ahmed Ibrahim, a Somali government military official.

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Syrian army defectors have attacked a major military base near Damascus, a Syrian opposition group says.

Parts of the Air Force Intelligence building in Harasta were destroyed in the overnight attack, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission.

The Free Syrian Army used rockets and machine-guns, it said, in its highest-profile attack since protests began.

It comes as the Arab League prepares to discuss its response to the crackdown on anti-government unrest in Syria.

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At least 40 people have been killed in violence in Syria, rights groups and activists say, as pro- and anti-government forces reportedly clashed in Deraa province and elsewhere, with protests against Bashar al-Assad’s government continuing.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that security forces shot dead at least 16 civilians across the province of Deraa, where protests against Assad first began in earnest.

However, local activists in Deraa told the Reuters news agency that the death toll from clashes between forces loyal to Assad, the Syrian president, and those who have joined protesters against his rule could be as high as 40.

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Putting the onus of peace talks on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, the Maoists in a letter to the interlocutors, publicised on Monday, called off the mutual cease-fire agreed earlier.

“The one-month cease fire agreement we entered with you has expired Oct 30. Since then, there has been no communication on the issue either from the government or you. In wake of this, we declare the end of cease-fire,” read the letter dated Oct 31 and signed by Communist Party of India-Maoist state secretary Akash.

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