Armed separatist rebels in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region claimed responsibility for an attack on a civilian aircraft, alleging they killed an American pilot and set the plane on fire after it landed in a conflict-hit area.

The claim was made by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), a separatist group involved in a long-running insurgency against the Indonesian government.

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Forced military conscription and a shortage of weapons are directly affecting the dynamics of the civil war in Burma.

In many areas, rebels are facing increasing pressure, while military forces are strengthening their presence and advancing into strategic territories.

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Fighting has intensified around the Myanmar Navy’s western bases in Sittwe and Kyaukphyu after the ethnic Arakan Army (AA) declared it was close to seizing all of Rakhine State.

Residents report heavy exchanges of artillery fire between AA forces and regime naval vessels stationed in the Bay of Bengal and the Kaladan River southeast of Sittwe. AA troops are also attacking the Shwe Min Gan naval support base and a military base near Kyar Ma Thauk village, just north of Sittwe, prompting retaliatory shelling from warships.

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The military regime and allied ethnic troops have recaptured Tonzang, a strategic town in northern Chin State on the winding mountain road that leads to the Indian border.

The Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), an ethnic Zomi nationalist group aligned with the junta, said its forces fought alongside the military in a three-day battle, finally recapturing Tonzang on Tuesday.

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The United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations Saturday in Pakistan, days after a fragile, two-week ceasefire was announced, as the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets entered its seventh week.

The White House confirmed the direct nature of the talks, a rare instance of high-level U.S. government engagement with the Iranian government.

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