Saudi military forces pressed their offensive against Yemen's Shiite rebels on Saturday after the insurgents made a cross-border raid earlier this week. Meanwhile rebels claim they captured some Saudi soldiers in Yemeni territory on Friday.
Reports say Saudi jets have pounded Shiite rebels camps in northern Yemen in retaliation for a rebel incursion across the border. Saudi ground troops are said to be gathering near the Yemeni border.
Yemen's government is denying claims by Shiite rebels - the subject of a current government offensive - that they shot down a government MiG warplane in the northern region of Saada on Friday, saying that a technical problem caused the crash.
More than 80 civilians were killed during an air raid in northern Yemen on Thursday when the army fired at a makeshift camp of displaced people where rebels were believed to be hiding, say media reports quoting witnesses.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it was extending a two-month-old ceasefire in the oil-producing Niger Delta by 30 days but warned the government an amnesty programme had not yet tackled key issues.
Fresh clashes erupted Saturday between Burma's ruling junta and rebel forces, with a rebel leader claiming more than 30 government troops had been killed. Up to 30,000 refugees have fled to seek safety across the border in recent weeks, the UN says.
As part of a campaign dubbed Operation Scorched Earth, aimed at ending a rebellion by Zaidi Shiite rebels,Yemeni troops killed more than 100 Shiite rebels as they recaptured a small town in Yemen's northern mountains, the government said.
Sri Lanka organised Saturday the first vote since the government forces defeated the Tigers three months ago. However, the situation is still unsecured and the country still ethnically divided with 300 000 Tamils detained in refugee camps.
Nigeria’s most prominent rebel group has said it would observe a 60-day ceasefire from Wednesday after the release of rebel leader Henry Okah. The fighting has severely impaired the oil and gas industry operating in the country.
Nigerian authorities have dropped charges against Henry Okah (pictured), leader of Nigeria's main rebel group, after he accepted a federal amnesty programme designed to quell violence in the restive Niger Delta.
