Ta’ang National Liberation Army soldiers stand guard outside a village in Mantong township in Shan state, Jan. 16, 2014.

Fresh fighting that broke out late last week between two armed ethnic groups in Kyaukme district of northern Myanmar’s Shan state has forced nearly 350 villagers from Hsipaw township, including 100 children, to flee to safety in a Buddhist monastery, said a member of Myanmar’s parliament who visited the refugees on Monday.

The residents of Man Lwe village are seeking shelter inside the Yadana Shwegu monastery following an armed clash that broke out late last week between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), said lawmaker Nang Moe.

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The week-long offensive by government security forces in Sulu and Basilan against the Abu Sayyaf has resulted in the killing of 40 terrorists and the wounding of 25 others, a regional military spokesman said Monday.

“Focused military operations are intensified, in coordination with the police and the local governments of the provinces of Basilan and Sulu, to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf Group,” Major Filemon Tan of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command said.

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Heavy gunfire has resumed in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, on Monday, after a quiet night Sunday evening.

Eye witnesses told Sudan Tribune that heavy gunfire erupted this morning at Jebel Kujur site where the residence of the First Vice President, Riek Machar, and his forces are situated.

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Hundreds of residents began to flee their houses in the southern coastal city of Marka due to renewed violence and from dawn to dusk curfew by forces under Somalia federal government.

The security deterioration of the town has forced people to run away and seek a better place in nearby areas in Lower Shabelle region, south of Somalia, according to a local resident.

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At least 10 people died and another 19 were injured in clashes between the Philippines army and Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Sulu province in southern Philippines, officials said Friday.

Fighting began at around 3 p.m. on Thursday when soldiers of the 45th Infantry Battalion clashed with around 130 Abu Sayyaf insurgents in Patikal in Sulu Province.

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A total of 19 PKK terrorists died in separate clashes in eastern and southeastern Turkey, the country’s military said on Saturday.

The Turkish General Staff issued a statement saying 17 “separatist terrorist organisation members” were killed in a Friday clash with security forces in the Semdinli district of Hakkari province.

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Iraqi forces have captured a key air base from the Islamic State group that can serve as a launch pad for retaking the jihadist-held city of Mosul, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said.

The Qayyarah air base in the Tigris valley 60 kilometres south of Mosul would be “an important base for the liberation of Mosul,” Mr Abadi said in a statement.

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