Rebel groups based in southern Syria are advancing on the western suburbs of Damascus and warning they might soon enter the capital, a development that’s in sharp contrast to the grim reports from northern Syria, where moderate rebels have suffered setbacks from the government and radical Islamists.

The advance by the so-called Southern Front also stands apart from the situation in the north because moderate rebels still appear to be the dominant opposition force in the south, eclipsing al Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in planning and executing military advances.

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Soldiers shot dead four communist rebels and arrested another in an encounter Thursday in a hinterland in Senator Ninoy Aquino town in the province.

A soldier who was slightly wounded in the ensuing encounter is now recuperating at a hospital.

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At least eight militants were killed and 12 others were injured following militants attack in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.

According to local security officials, the incident took place early on Saturday in Nari district.

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At least 55 people, including 11 women and three security personnel, were killed and nearly 200 injured when a suicide attacker detonated a powerful bomb at Wagah in Pakistan today, minutes after the popular flag- lowering ceremony at the main Indo-Pak land border crossing.

“A large number of people were returning after watching Rangers flag ceremony at Wagah border when a suicide bomber blew himself up near one of the exit gates,” Inspector General Police of Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera said. He said three Pakistani Rangers were also among the dead.

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Troops from Burma’s armed forces and those from the Federal Union Army (FUA), an alliance backed by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), engaged in repeated clashes in northeast Shan state earlier this month. The clashes began on October 15th and lasted for several days.

The clashes between government forces and FUA troops, who are officially under the command of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), continued in the Mung Ji area of eastern Tamonye township, Shan state, according to Zau Seng, a Kachin Baptist pastor who lives nearby.

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