Armed Conflicts

Local Militias Hold Sway in Cote d’Ivoire’s Lawless Duékoué

By Marc-Andre Boisvert
In Cote d'Ivoire, traditional hunters known as dozos are accused of human rights abuses and extortion. But in several areas, they also remain the sole guarantor of local safety.

Saudi Arabia’s Ad Hoc Foreign Policy

By Thomas W. Lippman
If you are confused or baffled by Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy moves over the past month or so, you are hardly alone. It appears the Saudis themselves don’t know quite what to make of the various situations in which they find themselves.

How Israel Sank into the Quagmire of Apartheid

By Mitchell Plitnick
When one writes a book about Israel, one must expect that it will be analysed not for its quality but for its ideological bent.

And Now This Filthy Flood

By Mohammed Omer
Wearing tattered shoes and hopping between dirty puddles, 14-year-old Sabeh manages to find his way to the market at the Al Shati refugee camp, one of Gaza’s most heavily populated and poor areas.

Syrious Paralysis on Pennsylvania Avenue

By Jim Lobe
Three months after averting a military strike against Syria with a last-minute deal to deprive it of its chemical weapons arsenal, U.S. policy toward the world's most violent conflict appears increasingly at sea.

Cameroonians Flee Atrocities in Central African Republic

By Ngala Killian Chimtom
“We couldn’t stand the violence anymore,” said 27-year-old Baba Hamadou shortly after alighting from a chartered flight at the Douala International Airport earlier this week.

Q&A: “Libyan Women Were Handed Over as Spoils of War”

By Karlos Zurutuza
Unless immediate changes are enforced, Libya is heading towards an "Afghan" model regarding women´s rights, Aicha Almagrabi, a Libyan writer and senior women rights activist, told IPS from her residence in Tripoli.

U.N. Advice to Aid Worker: Write Last Will Before Leaving Home

By Thalif Deen
When Anoja Wijeyesekera, an aid worker with the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, received her new assignment in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan back in 1997, her appointment letter arrived with a "survival manual" and chilling instructions: write your last will before leaving home.

When NATO Leaves Afghanistan

By Giuliano Battiston
Afghanistan’s 30 million people are deeply divided over whether President Hamid Karzai should sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Washington that will allow U.S. military operations to continue in the conflict-ravaged country after NATO forces leave in 2014.

Guantanamo Transfers Hint at Momentum Towards Closure

By Ramy Srour
The U.S. government announced Monday it has repatriated two Saudi detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison, less than two weeks after two Algerian detainees were likewise sent back to their home country.

Syria, CAR top U.N.’s Challenges for 2014

By Thalif Deen
As the ongoing crises in some of the world's hot spots - including Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali, Libya, Palestine and Darfur, Sudan - continue unabated, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday singled out some of the biggest challenges facing the international community in 2014.

Doctor Abductions Leave Patients Helpless

By Ashfaq Yusufzai

Doctors in the Pakistani frontier provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are running scared after nearly 45 consultants were kidnapped for ransom this year. Police suspect that gangs enjoying the Taliban’s patronage are behind the abductions that are just a symptom of the many challenges the country faces as it battles terrorism, ethnic conflicts and sectarian divisions.

Refugees Struggle in Ruined Camp

By Rebecca Murray
As the Syrian war intensifies sectarian clashes in Lebanon’s northern coastal city Tripoli, Palestinians in the area worriedly watch the violence from the sidelines.

U.S. Urged to Change Policy on Support to Victims of Sexual Violence

By Ramy Srour
The U.S. government is being urged to roll back a longstanding policy that has banned foreign aid funding from being used for health care services for victims of sexual violence in conflict situations.

Golan Druze Feel the Brunt of Syria’s Civil War

By Pierre Klochendler
The faint explosion is a reminder that though the newly refurbished fence protects their town, the two-and-a-half-year-old civil war which is tearing their motherland apart is never far off.

Africa Prepares for Central African Republic Deployment

By Jacey Fortin
The African Union is preparing to deploy thousands of troops in the Central African Republic as a deadly conflict there spirals further out of control.

Drone Killings Show Numbers, Not Bodies

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
More than 300 U.S. drone attacks have killed 2,160 militants and 67 civilians in Pakistan since 2008, according to Pakistani defence ministry data. But people living in the affected areas are now questioning these figures, asking why they never get to know the names of the militants or see the bodies.

An African Dream Called Lampedusa

By Karlos Zurutuza
Youssef crossed the Sahara desert with a folded school map of Europe in his pocket. “Could you please point [out] Lampedusa in the map for me? I cannot find it.”

OP-ED: What Europe Must Do for Syrian Refugees

By António Guterres and Anders Danielsson
The terrible bloodshed in Syria has been going on for over two and a half years. It has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history, with more than half of Syria’s pre-war population now needing humanitarian assistance for their survival.

U.N. Stays on Sidelines of Central African Chaos

By Samuel Oakford
The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to authorise the deployment of thousands of French and African Union troops in the Central African Republic but stopped short of approving a full U.N. peacekeeping force in the country.

Bill Commits U.S. Diplomacy to Ending Abuse of Women

By Carey L. Biron
The U.S. Congress is being urged to pass “urgent” legislation that would make issues of violence against women and girls a key focus in all U.S. diplomatic efforts.
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