Armed Conflicts

Local Communities Forced to Pay Salaries of DRC Army and Rebels

By Taylor Toeka Kakala
On the way to his fields, Denise Mambo, a resident of Kitshanga, North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, stops at a rope laid across his path.

Peace Laureate Obama Urged to Back Arms Trade Treaty

By Carey L. Biron
Eighteen Nobel Peace Prize recipients called Thursday for President Barack Obama to take a leadership role in supporting a “historic” internationally binding agreement that would regulate the global arms trade, including instituting a strict ban on arms sales to states involved in egregious human rights abuses.

Afghanistan Faces “Massive Economic Constriction” after U.S. Withdrawal

By Richard Sale
Next year’s drawdown of U.S. forces and decline in U.S. aid will leave in its wake an Afghan political system lacking legitimacy and stability, according to interviews with Afghanistan experts, news reports and congressional studies.

U.S. Claims No Indefinite Detention at Guantánamo

By Joe Hitchon
In an unusual public testimony, the U.S. government has publicly stated that no “indefinite detention” is taking place among detainees at the military prison in Guantánamo Bay.

Q&A: Water Disputes Get Resolved While Other Conflicts Rage

By Thalif Deen
What has education, science and culture to do with one of the world's most scarce and finite resources? Plenty, says the United Nations, which has designated the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the lead agency to promote the 2013International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC).

PKK Frees Turkish Hostages in Peace Bid

By AJ Correspondents
Kurdish rebels in Turkey have released eight hostages after their jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called for a prisoner exchange.

War Over, Now to Secure Peace

By Marc-Andre Boisvert
As the Malian army and its foreign partners are slowly securing northern cities in the West African nation, it is still unclear how the country will turn its back on the political crisis that led to the March 2012 military coup.

At Home, and Not at Home

By Zak Brophy
The influx of hundreds of thousands of war-weary refugees from Syria to Lebanon is putting an almost unbearable strain on many of the communities that have taken them into their homes. A domestic economic crisis compounded by the arrival of such large numbers of refugees is weighing heavily on many impoverished areas.

Child Sexual Exploitation on the Rise in North Kivu

By Passy Mubalama
A street in Goma’s city centre, the capital of North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been nicknamed “the ward of death” because of the brutal crimes that frequently occur there.

U.S. “Rebalancing” to Asia/Pacific Still a Priority

By Jim Lobe
Amidst growing tensions with North Korea and, to a lesser extent, China, the White House Monday insisted that its “re-balancing” toward the Asia/Pacific remained on track and that Washington is fully committed to its allies there, especially Japan and South Korea.

A Political Tug-of-War Over Militarism and Gender Violence

By Thalif Deen
When the largest single gathering of women met at the United Nations in February last year, the adoption of a future plan of action was undermined by rigidly conservative governments opposed to women's reproductive rights - largely misinterpreted as a right to abortion.

SOF Troops Still in Wardak as Joint U.S.-Afghan Probe Continues

By Gareth Porter and Shah Noori
Two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded the withdrawal of all U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) from Wardak province by this date, the issue remains suspended in negotiations between U.S. and Afghan governments.

U.N. Security Council Hits N. Korea with New Sanctions

By Thalif Deen and Jim Lobe
North Korea, which has survived three rounds of diplomatic and economic sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006, reacted with predictable fury, threatening to nuke the United States, in retaliation for a Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against Pyongyang.

Victims Want Voice and Vote in Colombia’s Peace Talks

By Constanza Vieira
Victims of crimes of the state want their recommendations to be taken into consideration by the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas that are seeking to end half a century of armed conflict.

Gaza Women Suffer on ‘Their’ Day

By Eva Bartlett
“In Gaza we don't lead normal lives, we just cope, and adapt to our abnormal lives under siege and occupation,” says Dr. Mona El-Farra, a physician and a long-time human rights and women's rights activist in the Gaza Strip. On International Women's Day, when many of the world's women are fighting for workplace equality and an end to domestic violence, Farra and the majority of Gaza's women fight for the most basic of rights.

‘Humanitarian Diplomacy’ Fights Nukes

By Jamshed Baruah
For the first time, ‘humanitarian diplomacy’ is being deployed to drive home the need for banning nukes - though under the self-imposed exclusion of the P5, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, who own a crushing majority of the 19,000 nuclear weapons capable of destroying the world many times over.

North Kivu Refugees Hope to Find Peace in Uganda

By Bastian Schnabel
As dawn rises over Nyakabande, a village in southwestern Uganda, people line up in front of a reception tent, exhausted and carrying only the few belongings they could bring across the border.

Afghanistan a Minefield for the Innocent

By Esmatullah Mayar
Efforts to clear Afghanistan of landmines have been painfully slow. At least 45 people on average lose their limbs every month to deadly anti-personnel mines, according to the Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan, formerly a project of the UN Mine Action Service, and now a national entity.

UNRWA Head Warns of Palestinian Crisis in Syria

By Joe Hitchon
A top United Nations official is warning that the plight of Palestinian refugees is being neglected amidst the ongoing crisis in Syria.

U.S. Wasted Billions of Dollars on Iraqi Reconstruction

By Jim Lobe
Almost exactly a decade after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Washington’s efforts to help reconstruct the country have fallen far short, according to the final report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) released here Wednesday.

Malian Refugees Look to Rebuild their Lives

By Ousseini Issa
Malian refugees in Mangaïze, northwest Niger, are keen to return home to start work and be able to support themselves once more.
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