JUBA: South Sudanese rebels have seized a military base and town after clashing with the army in the east in an escalation of violence that has already uprooted thousands of people and hampered plans to explore for oil.
The rebels, led by David Yau Yau and known as the South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA), say they want to end corruption and the one-party system led by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
In March, the army launched an offensive against Yau Yau in the eastern state of Jonglei, the country’s largest, where the government wants to search for oil with the help of French firm Total. The recent fighting has uprooted tens of thousands of people, according to the UN.
UN not pulling out Golan observers
UNITED NATIONS: UN peacekeepers are continuing to monitor the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights but have relocated some observers because of the precarious security situation in conflict-torn Syria, the United Nations said yesterday.
“UNDOF continues to do its utmost to ensure the implementation of its mandate while mitigating risk to its personnel,” UN peacekeeping spokeswoman Josephine Guerrero said. “In light of the evolving security situation, peacekeepers from Position 86 have been relocated.”
She said the world body was working to secure the release of four Filipino observers in the 1,000-member UN Disengagement Observer Force who were detained by a rebel group on Tuesday.
PKK fighters begin Turkey withdrawal
SEMDINLI, Turkey: Kurdish militants began to withdraw from Turkey yesterday, pursuing a peace process meant to end a three-decade insurgency that has killed 40,000 people, ravaged the region’s economy and tarnished the country’s image abroad.
Turkish security forces manned checkpoints along the mountainous border with Iraq, keeping watch as the agreed pullout started by the first small groups of up to 2,000 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters.
The withdrawal, ordered late last month by top PKK commander Murat Karayilan, is the biggest step yet in a deal negotiated by the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan with Turkish officials to end almost 30 years of conflict.
Pakistani beheaded in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH: Saudi authorities yesterday beheaded a Pakistani man found guilty of smuggling drugs into the conservative Muslim kingdom, the Interior Ministry said.
The man was caught attempting to smuggle an amount of heroin hidden inside his stomach, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. His beheading brings to 38 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year. Agencies
