Rebel fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo seized control Sunday of more towns in the country’s east, but said they would cede most of their gains to UN peacekeepers and police.

“We have seized Rubare, Rutshuru, Kalengera and Kako,” said rebel leader Colonel Sultani Makenga at Bunagana, the border post with Uganda.

“Even though we have taken these districts, we will withdraw and leave them to MONUSCO and national police,” added Makenga, who was wearing a regular army uniform with a pistol at his hip, surrounded by around 30 well-armed bodyguards.

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The Shan State Army-North (SSA-North) has agreed to withdraw from two of its military bases at the request of the Burmese government’s Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) in order to avoid conflict during the ongoing peace talks.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Sai La, the spokesperson for the SSA-North, said, “We are taking into consideration the interests of local farmers who need to sow rice at this time of year. If the conflict continues they will be forced from their farms.”

He said that the SSA-North will continue monitoring the situation on the ground as it withdraws its bases as per the agreement.

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Yemeni airstrikes killed three al-Qaeda fighters and wounded seven in the country’s south, a Yemeni military official said Wednesday. The strikes by Yemen’s air force were part of an offensive against the militants.

The official said the raids targeted militants in the border between Abyan and Shabwa provinces.

Al-Qaeda militants took advantage of a year of internal turmoil in Yemen that eventually led to the resignation of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh to overrun large areas of the south.

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Some 600 Congolese soldiers have fled into Uganda, following clashes with rebels who have seized a border town.

The Ugandan military said the fleeing troops had been disarmed.

As the rebels took control of the Democratic Republic of Congo side of the town of Bunagana, an Indian peacekeeper was killed, the UN says.

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A civil society leader says rebels have seized the strategic village of Jomba in east Congo thus cutting access to a border crossing into Uganda and Rwanda. Congo’s army denied that.

A statement from the Civil Society Coordination for North Kivu province, signed by vice president Omar Kavota, said residents have reported that M23 rebels attacked before dawn Thursday and fought army troops for four hours to dislodge them from the center that also has a large Catholic mission and school. It is the only major village on the road from Bunagana border post to the eastern town of Rutshuru.

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The Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), as the SSA North is officially designated, whose Kawng Maihoong base in Monghsu township has been under attack since Saturday, 30 June, has sent a message to President Thein Sein demanding that his Burma Army forces suspend hostilities and retire to where they come from, according to SSPP/SSA spokesman Maj Sai La.

“So far, we are only defending our positions,” he said. “But we’ll be forced to take steps if the attack continues.” This latest attack marks the 19th time the ceasefire agreement, signed on 28 January in Shan State capital Taunggyi, has been violated, according to SSA sources.

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Iran declared Wednesday that it can destroy nearby U.S. military bases and strike Israel within minutes of an attack on the Islamic republic, reflecting tensions over Iran’s suspect nuclear program.

The veiled threat came during a military drill that has included the firing of ballistic missiles. The elite Revolutionary Guards, conducting the war games in Iran’s central desert, said that the missiles were aimed at mock-ups of foreign military bases.

Israel and the U.S. have hinted at the possibility of military strikes against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy do not rein in Iran’s nuclear development program. The West suspects Iran may be aiming to build nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.

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