The Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), as the SSA North is officially designated, whose Kawng Maihoong base in Monghsu township has been under attack since Saturday, 30 June, has sent a message to President Thein Sein demanding that his Burma Army forces suspend hostilities and retire to where they come from, according to SSPP/SSA spokesman Maj Sai La.

“So far, we are only defending our positions,” he said. “But we’ll be forced to take steps if the attack continues.” This latest attack marks the 19th time the ceasefire agreement, signed on 28 January in Shan State capital Taunggyi, has been violated, according to SSA sources.

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Iran declared Wednesday that it can destroy nearby U.S. military bases and strike Israel within minutes of an attack on the Islamic republic, reflecting tensions over Iran’s suspect nuclear program.

The veiled threat came during a military drill that has included the firing of ballistic missiles. The elite Revolutionary Guards, conducting the war games in Iran’s central desert, said that the missiles were aimed at mock-ups of foreign military bases.

Israel and the U.S. have hinted at the possibility of military strikes against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy do not rein in Iran’s nuclear development program. The West suspects Iran may be aiming to build nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.

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61 Taliban rebels were killed in mopping up operations by Afghan security forces.

Interior ministry press office said to BNA, the security forces in the last 24 hours carried out five mopping up operations for cleaning of insecure regions from presence of terrorists in the outskirts of Baghlan, Jouzjan, Paktika, Kandahar and Farah province, killed 61 Taliban rebels and detained one.

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A Kia truck with explosives hidden in its cargo of watermelons exploded on Tuesday in Diwaniyah, a largely Shiite city in southern Iraq, leaving at least 40 people dead, including a 6-year-old boy, local officials said. It was the deadliest in a string of attacks on Tuesday in central and southern Iraq.

The truck bomb in Diwaniyah was detonated near the city’s main fish and vegetable market, where local officials had reopened the streets to vehicles less than five months ago after keeping them closed for years over security concerns. The area was crowded with morning shoppers at the time of the explosion.

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Fighters from the Islamist militants of al-Shabaab-linked with al-Qaeda have attacked on Monday on Somali government soldiers at a base located near Hudur town, the provincial capital of Bakool region.

Locals said al-Shabaab agents with rocked propelled grenades and automatic guns mounted heavy attacks against Somali soldiers positioned on the outskirts of Hudur town, causing an unconfirmed loss on both warring sides and nearby civilians.

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A statement from the Turkish military confirmed that the jets had been scrambled after three near-violations of its territory by Syrian helicopters on Saturday.

Tensions between the former allies have been drastically raised since Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance plane last month.

Turkey admitted the plane may have briefly entered Syrian airspace but insisted it was in international airspace by the time it was shot down over the Mediterranean, with the two pilots still missing.

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Renewed tribal clashes in the Libyan city of Kufra have claimed at least 47 lives and left more than 100 others wounded in three days, local leaders and a medic told AFP on Saturday.

“Thirty-two have been killed this week in the two Toubou residential areas,” a medic treating Toubou casualties in Kufra told AFP.

“The number of wounded exceeds 100. Women and children make up more than half of the injured, with the majority of them hurt by mortar fire,” added doctor Taher Wehli.

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