The Arakan Liberation Army, or ALA, has recently clashed with a Burmese army unit in a confrontation on the frontlines in Paletwa Township in southern Chin State in Burma, said a spokesperson for the ALA.

The ALA is the armed wing of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) that is based in the triangle border area of Burma, Bangladesh, and India.

“The confrontation happened between our forces led by Lieutenant Khine Soe Naing and Burmese troops led by Major Khin Maung Than from LIB 344 based in Sittwe, around 5:30 pm on 27 November between Khamaungwa and Kintalin Villages in Paletwa Township. We heard there was a casualty on the Burmese side, but nothing happened to our forces,” said Khaing Thukha, Secretary 2 of the ALP.

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Hundreds of army defectors in southern Syria have fought with tank-backed loyalist forces in one of the biggest armed confrontations in a nine-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, residents and activists said.

Troops, mainly from the 12th Armoured Brigade, based in Isra, 40km from the border with Jordan, stormed the nearby town of Busra al-Harir, the Reuters news agency reported.

The sound of explosions and heavy machine guns was heard in Busra al-Harir and in Lujah, an area of rocky hills north of the town, where defectors have been hiding and attacking military supply lines.

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Syrians on Friday took to the streets including in the “capital of revolt” Homs. At least 36 people were killed in clashes with security forces, most of them in Homs.

Opposition activists had called on citizens to take to the streets in support of a “dignity strike… which will lead to the sudden death of this tyrant regime.”

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Heavy battle between Somalia’s interim federal government backing by African Union peace keeping troops and Al-shabaab militants flared up parts of capital Mogadishu, residents and reports said on Thursday.

The fighting erupted early hours on Thursday in Mogadishu’s Karan and Hilwa districts and neighboring outskirts between Islamist insurgents and pro-government forces aiding by AMISOM soldiers and al-Shabaab in the area, causing unidentified damages and casualties, since the combat is still going on.

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Two terrorist bomb attacks in central and northern Afghanistan killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 160 others Tuesday - the holiest day of the Shi’ite Muslim calendar.

The worst of the violence struck the capital Kabul, when at least one suicide bomber detonated explosives near the Abul Fazel shrine as Shi’ite worshippers gathered. The blast killed 55 people - including women and children - and wounded 160 others.

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At least 30 people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in central Iraq targeting Shia pilgrims marking the festival of Ashura, officials say.

In the deadliest attack, a car packed with explosives blew up as a procession of pilgrims passed through the al-Nil area, north of the city of Hilla.

Local police said 16 people were killed, including women and children.

Later, two separate attacks against groups of pilgrims in the capital, Baghdad, left at least 11 people dead.

Police and hospital sources said eight people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of pilgrims in the northern district of Urr, while the other three were killed in Mashtal, in the city’s east.

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Five militants and two members of an elite police force were killed in operations in southern Kazakhstan, prosecutors said Sunday, amid concerns about rising Islamist unrest in the Central Asian state.

The clash took place during a special operation against suspected militants in a village just outside Kazakhstan`s largest city and former capital of Almaty, where prosecutors said they had been planning attacks.

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