Jailed leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan called on PKK forces for a cease-fire and withdrawal from Turkey, in a long-awaited, historic announcement during celebrations of Nevruz, a spring festival, in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Thursday.

“Our fight has been against all kinds of pressure, violence and oppression… A door is now opening on a democratic process after a period of armed struggle. Guns should fall silent and politics should come to the foreground. The stage has been reached where our armed forces should withdraw beyond the borders… It is not the end, it is the start of a new era,” Ocalan said in a statement read by Kurdish politicians at Nevruz celebrations attended by a quarter of a million people in Diyarbakır’s Nevruz Park.

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Malian soldiers patrol in the streets of Timbuktu on February 1, 2013

France says about 10 Islamist fighters were killed Thursday as French and Malian forces repelled an attack on the northern Mali city of Timbuktu.

A French army spokesman said in Paris that two Malian soldiers were slightly wounded in the overnight clash.

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The New People’s Army (NPA) in Southern Mindanao warned it will stage more attacks against government troops should large-scale mining and logging operations continue.

“As environmental destruction and loss of people’s livelihood intensifies with the continued large-scale mining, logging and plantation businesses in the region, more and more AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) troops and paramilitary forces that serve as its security guards become easy targets and sources of arms of the NPA and the people’s militia,” Rigoberto F. Sanchez, spokesperson for NPA Regional Operations Command, said in a statement emailed to Sun.Star Davao.

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An Iraqi militant group linked to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility on Wednesday for attacks that killed dozens of people across the country the day before, AP reported.

According to the news agency, al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch, the Islamic State of Iraq, posted a statement on their website claiming responsibility for Tuesday's string of bombings, which killed a reported total of 65.

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A fighter belonging to Sudan’s Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid Nur (SLM-AW)

The Sudanese government signed an agreement with a breakaway faction from Sudan’s Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid Nur (SLM-AW) called “Darfur Front for Injustice Rebuttal”.

The chairman of the Ministry of Defense and the National Intelligence and Security Service joint liaison committee for contact with rebel groups Major General Jamal Omer said that they reached a mutual understanding with the dissident group which is comprised of 10 field commanders, 500 armed soldiers and 16 Land Cruiser vehicles.

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Syrian war jets carried out airstrikes on Monday against rebels’ positions at the country’s borders with Lebanon, a move that came just days after the Syrian Foreign Ministry warned that the army’s patience was running thin with rebel fighters sneaking into Syria from Lebanon, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said.

The army targeted rebels’ positions at the villages located to the northeast of the borders with Lebanon, the TV said, noting that the army’s airstrike didn’t reach Lebanese territories.

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Burma army troops and forces from the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) clashed in northern Shan state on Wednesday, less than 36 hours after both sides met for peace talks in the Chinese border town of Ruili. Fighting took place at Man Pying near Hu Hpyet town in Kutkai township.

The clashes which lasted more than two hours involved the Burma army’s Infantry Battalion No. 241 and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) special forces battalion No. 301 led by Major Hpauda Dut, according to a senior officer with the KIA’s 4th Brigade. The official declined to give his name for security reasons.

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