Seven soldiers from Burma’s military are believed to have been killed on Monday following clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in two separate places in northern Kachin state, according to KIA sources.

The first of the lethal clashes took place Monday morning, east of Kamaing in the jade rich Hpakant district located in the west of the war torn state. Three government soldiers were killed and several more injured during the short battle that saw KIA’s Battalion 6 troops face off against the army.

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A major from government armed forces and seven soldiers under his command were killed on Monday following clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) at Dung Waw in Northern Shan State, according to one front line KIA commander.

KIA Lance Corporal Tsin-yu La San and a young civilian was fatally wounded the night before, according to Lt. Zau Seng, a commander with the KIA affiliated militia People’s army. For the last two-days, there has been heavy fighting between a government battalion and the KIA in the area.

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The Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) have agreed to begin political dialogue this coming month, according to KIO spokesman La Mai Gum Ja.

The announcement came following preliminary peace talks on October 30 in the Chinese town of Ruili where a delegation from Naypyidaw led by President’s Office Minister Aung Min met with KIO representatives headed by Kachin politician Sumlut Gam.

“We have agreed to continue political negotiations,” said Gum Ja. “Assuming our central committee agrees to the proposal, we will meet in November at a venue inside Burma.”

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One of four Italian soldiers wounded in a firefight with Afghan insurgents Thursday has died in hospital, taking Italy’s death toll in the eight-year NATO-led ISAF mission to 52.

Alpine Brigade Corporal Tiziano Chierotti, 24, from the northwestern costal town of Sanremo, had surgery on abdominal wounds but “nothing could be done,” military sources said in Rome.

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A Pakistani official says over 100 militants have attacked a police station in the northwest, killing six policemen. Two of the killed policemen were beheaded.

Police officer Ishrat Yar says the attack near the main northwest city of Peshawar started late on Sunday night and triggered a gunbattle that lasted for several hours. The militants were armed with heavy machine-guns, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and assault rifles.

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