Ukrainian officials said Thursday that their forces have retreated from the main portion of the airport at Donetsk, a key turning point in an eight-month battle with Russian separatist forces that has turned the facility into a hulk of twisted metal and shattered glass.

“Taking into account the danger and in order to save lives, … it was decided yesterday to move out of the terminal’s territory and to the new lines,” Vladyslav Seleznyov, spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said at a briefing.

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Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry says government forces have killed 23 Taliban militants during operations in three different parts of the country.

In a statement early on January 21, the ministry said the militants were killed during the previous 24 hours in the southern province of Kandahar, the northern province of Kunduz, and in Kapisa Province just north of Kabul.

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Russia has sent more troops into Ukraine than at any time since the crisis began, deploying 9,000 soldiers inside its neighbour, according to the Ukrainian leader.

Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine, said Russia had also dispatched 500 tanks and other armoured vehicles over the border. A total of five Russian infantry battalions are now believed to be inside eastern Ukraine.

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The Philippine military says troops backed by artillery and air support have killed three Muslim militants from the same group that killed six soldiers two months ago.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc says troops battled about 50 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in a series of clashes Tuesday in southern Basilan province. She says six militants also were wounded and there were no government casualties.

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Villagers fleeing the violence in Putao area (Photo: KBC Kachin)

Battles intensify for control of Hpakant and Putao areas in Kachin State, Muse, Namtu, Theinni and Kutkai areas in northern Shan State between Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese Army troops .

The latest round of fighting began as Burmese Army accused KIA of arresting the Kachin State Transportation Minister and three policemen on Jan 14. KIA sources say that the Transport Minister had already been released and they planned to release three policemen the next day. An official of the KIA’s 6th Battalion said, “We have a protocol that Burmese government informed KIA through Peace-talks Creation Group (PCG) about their plans prior to travelling. But Burmese officials didn’t inform KIA about the minister’s travel this time. So our frontline troops detained them. But we planned to release them. It is not a valid reason to launch an offensive.”

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Yemen’s information minister says Shiite Houthi rebels are shelling the residence of the country’s president as they also swept into the presidential palace in the capital, Sanaa.

The minister, Nadia al-Sakkaf posted on her Twitter account on Tuesday that President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi home in downtown Sanaa has come under “heavy shelling since 3:00 PM by armed forces positioned over rooftops facing his house.”

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Ukraine’s military says it went to the aid of soldiers besieged in Donetsk airport

Observers in eastern Ukraine have warned of a serious deterioration in security as fighting intensifies in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

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