A recent offensive by Burmese government forces against the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in the Hpakan jade mining area in the west of Kachin state, has forced hundreds of local villagers to flee for their safety, according to refugees in the area.

An estimated 300 people have taken shelter in a Kachin Baptist church in Lawng Hkang town, with others seeking refuge in a nearby Catholic Church or with friends, our source said.

Earlier this week the KIO enacted a complete ban on all public travel along the Hpakan jade mining road due to the ongoing conflict with the Burmese army.

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Heavy fighting broke out late on Friday in Gedo and Lower Juba regions as the allied forces from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) and the pro-government militias of Wal-jamaca (ASWJ) and Ras Kamboni fighters battled with the militant group al-Shabaab.

According to local residents, the first round of the attacks occurred in Dhamase village of Gedo region when the Islamist group ambushed KDF and TFG forces traversing the region.

The al-Shabaab fighters claimed victory over the attacks.

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Without much media attention, thousands of American troops are being deployed to Israel, and Iranian officials believe that this is the latest and most blatant warning that the US will soon be attacking Tehran.

Tensions between nations have been high in recent months and have only worsened in the weeks since early December when Iran hijacked and recovered an American drone aircraft. Many have speculated that a back-and-forth between the two countries will soon escalate Iran and the US into an all-out war, and that event might occur sooner than thought.

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Burmese government troops this week mounted an aggressive assault to overrun another strategic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) base in Lwaigyai near the Sino-Burma border.

According to the KIA, more than 90 battles or clashes have broken out since the president ordered his commanders to put an end to hostilities in the northern region.

More than 160 clashes between government forces and Kachin troops were recorded by the KIA for the month of December—more than 90 of which broke out after the presidential order on Dec. 10, said La Nan, the spokesman for the KIA’s political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

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At least 26 people have been killed and 13 wounded so far this year in two attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an army official said Wednesday.

The attacks - blamed on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - took place on the nights of January 1 and 3 in the Shabunda region in Sud Kivu province.

“The first attack targeted the leadership of Luyuyu and killed 18 civilians while six houses were burned,” Colonel Sylvain Ekenge, spokesman for military operations in Nord and Sud Kivu, told AFP.

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Clashes between rival tribes in a South Sudan town have left hundreds dead, a UN official has said.

Government troops opened fire to stop about 6,000 armed Lou Nuer tribal youth from entering the town of Pibor in Jonglei state which is home to the rival Murle people, Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for South Sudan, said on Tuesday.

Tensions between the two tribes over cattle rustling have mounted in recent months.

“There were more than a hundred children who were orphaned and unaccompanied,” Grande told Al Jazeera.

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Syrian army deserters killed at least 18 members of President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces in the southern province of Deraa on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It said dozens of soldiers who deserted their posts at dawn came under fire from a police station in the town of Jassem as they fled with their weapons.

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