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The president also stressed the urgency of getting relief to Palestinian civilians in Gaza who lack food, water and medicine. Israel appeared to be getting closer to a full-scale invasion of Gaza, a densely populated enclave ruled by Hamas. The Israeli military has massed troops and equipment near the Gaza border. The command will come," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops gathered at the Gaza border on Thursday. [1/8]Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon, in southern Israel, October 19, 2023.

Persons: Khan Younis, Biden, Joe Biden, Israel, Yoav Gallant, Ayman Safadi, Amir Cohen, David Satterfield, General Antonio Guterres, Gaza's, Issam Abdallah, Crescent, Abu Obeida, Al, Nidal al, Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates, Howard Goller Organizations: Israel, Wednesday, Israeli, REUTERS, Middle East, State Department, Hamas, United Nations, Palestinian, Gaza's Hamas, Pentagon, U.S . Navy, Hezbollah, Bank, West Bank, Thomson Locations: West Bank, Lebanon, U.S, Yemen, Israel WASHINGTON, GAZA, JERUSALEM, Gaza, Israel, kibbutzes, Jordanian, Amman, Tel Aviv, Egypt, Ashkelon, Rafah, FLASHPOINTS, Khan, Iran, Lebanese, Manara, Nur, Tulkarm, Al Jazeera, Gaza , Washington, Jerusalem

☆ Lebanese army says journalist killed by Israeli gunfire in southern Lebanon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Lebanese army said a journalist was killed by Israeli gunfire on Thursday in a southern Lebanon border area where Israel's forces and Lebanese group Hezbollah had a heavy exchange of fire. The Lebanese army described the seven people as media personnel, saying Israeli forces targeted them with machine guns, killing one and wounding another. The incident came nearly a week after a Reuters journalist was killed and other journalists injured in southern Lebanon. Cross-border exchanges have flared since Oct. 7, when Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel and Israeli forces launched a counteroffensive on Gaza. The Israeli military said fighters in Lebanon had fired at least two anti-armour missiles into Israel, striking the village of Manara without causing casualties.

Persons: Israel, Sheikh Abad's, Andrea Tenenti, Tenenti, Dan Williams, Tom Perry, Rami Ayyub, Edmund Blair, Alex Richardson, Grant McCool, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Lebanese, Hezbollah, Lebanese Armed Forces, UNIFIL, Reuters, Thomson Locations: JERUSALEM, BEIRUT, Lebanon, Lebanese, Israel, Iran, Manara, Gaza

☆ German defence minister visits troops at UN force in Lebanon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius looks on during a press statement on a visit the German Airforce Base Holzdorf to get informed about the projects of heavy transport helicopters and the anti-ballistic missiles ARROW in Holzdorf, Germany October 16, 2023. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius travelled to Lebanon on Thursday to visit German soldiers serving in a U.N. peacekeeping force in the region in the wake of a major escalation between neighbouring Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Berlin has deployed some 140 soldiers on a corvette off the Lebanese coast and at the headquarters of the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon that was hit by a rocket on Sunday without causing casualties. UNIFIL has operated in Lebanon since 1978 to maintain peace along the border with Israel and was expanded by the U.N. resolution that halted the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon. Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Friederike Heine, Editing by Rachel MoreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Boris Pistorius, German Airforce Base Holzdorf, Annegret, Sabine Siebold, Friederike Heine, Rachel More Organizations: German, German Airforce Base, REUTERS, Rights, Hamas, UNIFIL, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Holzdorf, Germany, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian, Berlin, Gaza

☆ Hezbollah, Hamas claim attacks on Israel from Lebanon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Flame and smoke rise over Lebanon as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, October 10, 2023. The violence, triggered by the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, marks the most serious escalation along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier since the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. The Israeli army said no injuries were reported in Tuesday's attack by Hezbollah, three of whose fighters were killed on Monday in Israeli shelling into Lebanon. A salvo of rockets was also fired from Lebanon into Israel on Tuesday, in an attack a security source in Lebanon said was carried out by Palestinian factions. Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, has close ties to the Palestinian groups fighting Israel.

Persons: Ammar Awad, Lebanon Joanna Wronecka, Abdallah Bouhabib, Joseph Aoun, General Security Elias Bayssari, Laila Bassam, Henriette Chacar, Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry, Alison Williams, David Gregorio, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese, Palestinian, Islamic, United Nations, General Security, Twitter, Iran's, Guards, Sunday, Israel, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Israel, Rights BEIRUT, Palestinian, Gaza, Iran, Lebanese, Tyre, Beirut, Jerusalem

☆ Liberia: Citizens vote in crucial polls amid flaring tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

‘Correcting a mistake’Boakai told CNN that his young supporters are now desperate for change. Weah’s campaign manager told CNN no Liberian law prevents them from running from office, adding that the government was awaiting evidence from US to enable prosecutions. A unique electionOscar Bloh, head of ECC, Liberia’s largest election observation group, told CNN this election is different from previous polls in the country. A spokesman for the electoral commission, Henry Flomo, told CNN, “Everything is in schedule,” as dictated by law. “It’s unlikely that any of the candidates will win outright during the first round,” he told CNN.

Persons: CNN —, George Weah, Weah, Joseph Boakai, Seif Magango, Ballon, Boakai, ’ Boakai, ’ ”, ” Boakai, Ahmed Jallanzo, Liberians, ”, Joel Cholo Brooks, Shutterstock, ” Weah, Samuel Tweah, –, they’ve, Eugene Nagbe, ” “, Nagbe, “, Brooks, Nathaniel McGill, ” McGill, Sayma Syrenius, Bill Twehway, Twehway, I’m, ” Nagbe, Oscar Bloh, Bloh, Henry Flomo, ” Flomo Organizations: CNN, UN, Bank, Coalition for Democratic, Unity Party, Facebook, UN Human Rights, Boakai, Soul Clinic, Global News Network Liberia, Coalition, Democratic, FIFA, Liberian, Liberia Anti, Corruption, Washington, Port Authority, US Treasury Department, McGill, Weah’s CDC, Transparency International, TI Locations: Liberia, Monrovia, Pipeline, “, Qatar, American, United States

☆ U.N. Peacekeepers Urge Restraint on Lebanese Border
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A United Nations peacekeeping force said it detected rockets fired from southeast Lebanon toward Israeli-occupied territory and artillery fire from Israel in response. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said it was in contact with authorities on both sides to urge restraint and avoid an escalation in violence.

Organizations: United Nations, United Nations Interim Force Locations: Lebanon, Israel

☆ Serbian president says reports about troop build up on the Kosovo border ‘not fully accurate’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Sugam Pokharel Claire Calzonetti Duarte Mendonca Sana Noor Haq | Sugam Pokharel | Claire Calzonetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Soldiers with the NATO-led international peacekeeping force, the Kosovo Force, in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, on September 28. A top Kosovo Serb politician, Milan Radoicic said this weekend that he took part in the gun battle, Reuters reported. The confrontation comes months after ethnic Serbs attacked dozens of NATO peacekeepers in the town of Zvecan, in northern Kosovo, in May. The violence has ratcheted tensions in the Balkan region as the EU and US mediators attempt to finalize yearslong talks to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo. Following his first-round victory against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Djokovic wrote “Kosovo is the [heart] of Serbia.

Persons: Aleksandar Vučić, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Vučić, “, ” Vučić, Stringer, Vjosa Osmani, Milan Radoicic, Radoicic, “ I’m, yearslong, Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, American Aleksandar Kovacevic Organizations: CNN, Serbian, NSC, National Security Council, NATO, ”, Kosovo Force, Getty, Kosovar, Kosovo Serb, Reuters, European, EU, American, “ Locations: Serbian, Kosovo, United States, Mitrovica, AFP, Serbia, Banjska, Belgrade, European Union, Brussels, Pristina, Zvecan, “ Kosovo

☆ An unusual military build-up in southern Europe sparked fears of another invasion like Russia's full-scale assault on Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US warned last week that Serbia staged an "unprecedented" military build-up along its border. AdvertisementAdvertisementA massive build-up of military power in Serbia has officials in neighboring Kosovo drawing comparisons to what Russian forces were doing before Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On September 24, heavily armed Serb gunmen killed a Kosovar police officer and stormed a monestary in northern Kosovo, setting off a shootout that left several attackers dead. Meanwhile, on Friday, the US made public its observation of the Serbian military build-up along the border and expressed concerns over the situation. "We are monitoring a large Serbian military deployment along the border with Kosovo that includes an unprecedented staging of advanced Serbian artillery, tanks, and mechanized infantry units.

Persons: —, Biden, Donika Gervalla, Schwarz, Deutschlandfunk, Ukraine —, Vladimir Putin, STRINGER, Jens Stoltenberg, John Kirby, Albin Kurti Organizations: US, Russia, Service, Reuters, Yugoslavia, NATO, Kosovo, Intervention, Serbian, AP, Kosovo Force, KFOR, UK, Getty, Belgrade, National Security Locations: Serbia, Kosovo, Kosovo's, Ukraine, Serbian, Russia, Belgrade, Pristina, Mitrovica, EU, Kosova

☆ Kosovo says Serbia's behaviour same as Russia's before Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Serbia's troop deployment on Kosovo's border recalls Russia's behaviour towards Ukraine before its invasion, the Kosovar foreign minister said, urging the European Union to take action against Belgrade such as freezing its candidacy status. "There has never been this kind of concentration of troops in recent years," Kosovar Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk in an interview on Monday. She said it was not just the concentration of troops on the edge of its former southern province, whose independence Belgrade does not recognise, but also Serbia's rhetoric and its "methods" resembling Russian behaviour towards Ukraine. Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a guerrilla uprising and 1999 NATO intervention, accuses Serbia of arming and supporting the Serb fighters. Reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Miranda Murray and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Donika Gervalla, Schwarz, Aleksandar Vucic, Sarah Marsh, Miranda Murray, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Union, Belgrade, NATO, Kosovar, Deutschlandfunk, EU, Serbs, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, States, Kosovo, Belgrade, Serbian, Serbia

☆ US monitoring large Serbian force along Kosovo border -White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Kosovo police officer looks on, in the aftermath of a shooting incident, in Banjska village, Kosovo September 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The United States is monitoring a troubling Serbian military deployment along the border of Kosovo that is destabilizing the area, the White House said on Friday and called for the forces to be withdrawn. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Kosovo's peacekeeping force is going to be increasing its presence of NATO forces in northern Kosovo as a result of the tensions. Kosovo authorities said police fought around 30 heavily armed Serbs who stormed the Kosovo village of Banjska on Sunday and barricaded themselves in a Serbian Orthodox monastery. Kirby called "a large Serbian military deployment along the Kosovo border" a destabilizing development and called on Serbia to withdraw those forces and contribute to lowering tensions.

Persons: Ognen, John Kirby, Kirby, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Steve Holland, David Ljunggren, Daniel Wallis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, White House, NATO, Thomson Locations: Banjska village, Kosovo, United States, Banjska, Serbian, Serbia, NATO

☆ US monitoring large Serbian force along Kosovo border, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Azerbaijan arrests former top Karabakh minister as exodus tops 50,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Felix Light | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians who broke away in the 1990s in the first of two wars there since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Karabakh authorities said more than 50,000 had left so far, out of an estimated ethnic Armenian population of 120,000. Azerbaijan rejects Armenian accusations of ethnic cleansing, but images of tens of thousands of desperate people on the move have provoked widespread international alarm. Germany added its voice to U.S. calls for Azerbaijan to allow international observers into Karabakh. Karabakh authorities said they lost at least 200 people in Azerbaijan's offensive last week.

Persons: Ruben Vardanyan, Veronika Zonabend, Morris Tidball, Binz, Annalena Baerbock, Matthew Miller, Washington, Irakli, Ilham Aliyev, Zonabend, Miller, Vera Petrosyan, Daphne Psaledakis, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher, Alison Williams Organizations: Twitter, U.S . State Department, REUTERS, Reuters, Local, Russian, Russia, State, Washington, Thomson Locations: Azerbaijan Karabakh, Germany, GORIS, Armenia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Baku, Soviet Union, Kornidzor, Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, United States, Washington

Kosovo authorities say around 30 heavily armed Serbs stormed the village of Banjska on Sunday, battling police and barricading themselves into the Serbian Orthodox monastery. Police recaptured the monastery late on Sunday after three attackers and one police officer were killed. Kosovo has accused Serbia of backing the armed militants; Serbia says Kosovo is to blame for mistreating residents in the Serb-majority area. It said one of them was Milan Radojcic, a Kosovo Serb politician and one of the leaders of the Serb List party. Serb List was the dominant Serb party in Kosovo's parliament before Serbs from the north and those loyal to Belgrade boycotted Kosovo's institutions nearly a year ago.

Persons: Milos Vucevic, Bjoern Arild Gram, Ognen, Aleksandar Vucic, Albin, Kurti's, Milan Radojcic, Dejan, Dusan Maksimovic, Fatos Bytyci, Aleksandar Vasovic, Ivana Sekularac, Christina Fincher, Alison Williams Organizations: Kovoso Police, Kosovo police, Police, ", Kosovo Serbs, REUTERS, KFOR, Kosovo, Reuters, Belgrade, Kosovo's, Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, Thomson Locations: PRISTINA, BELGRADE, Kosovo, Banjska, Serbian, Serbia, NATO, Belgrade, Pristina, Serb, Zvecan, United States, EU, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Kosovo Serb, Kosovo's

Pristina accuses Belgrade of backing the “terrorists,” an accusation Serbia denies, saying they are Serbs from Kosovo protesting the government there. Two of the gunmen and four Serbs discovered nearby with communication equipment were arrested and are being investigated for terrorist acts. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the gunmen were local Kosovo Serbs “who no longer want to stand Kurti’s terror.”Vucic condemned the killing of the Kosovo policeman, but still said the clash was the result of “brutal” pressure on Kosovo Serbs by the Kosovo government. Serbia will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, that monster creation that you made by bombing Serbia,” Vucic said, referring to the 1999 NATO intervention which led to Kosovo separating from Serbia. In February, the EU put forward a 10-point plan to end the latest round of heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

Persons: Afrim Bunjaku, Bunjaku, Xhelal Svecla, “ It’s, logistically, Albin Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovo Serbs “, ” Vucic, Vucic Organizations: —, Kosovar Albanian, Sunday, Kosovo, Kosovar, Police, Kosovo Interior, Kosovo Serbs, NATO, European Union, United, EU Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, — Kosovo, Pristina, Mitrovica, Serbia, Banjska, Belgrade, Serbian, Kosovo Albanians, EU, Brussels, Kurti, United States, Balkans, Tirana, Albania

CNN —Kosovo police said Sunday that they have killed three armed attackers and arrested another amid an ongoing shootout in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo. Kosovo is majority Albanian, but like other villages in the north, Banjska is predominantly Serbian. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but Serbia sees Kosovo as a breakaway state. Kosovo Police and a group of armed, masked men stand in front of the Banjska Monastery in North Kosovo. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have escalated in recent months with violent protests erupting in May over controversial local elections.

Persons: “, ”, Veton Eljsani, Albin Kurti, Josep Borrell, ” “, Borrell Organizations: CNN, Kosovo police, Police, ”, Facebook, “ Kosovo Police, Kosovo Police, . Police, AP, Kosovo, Serbia’s Foreign, EU, KFOR, NATO Locations: Banjska, Kosovo, ” Kosovo, Serbian, Serbia, Belgrade, Pristina, “, North Kosovo, Banjska Monastery, EULEX

LONDON (AP) — More badly needed humanitarian aid was on its way to the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh via both Azerbaijan and Armenia on Saturday. Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military in separatist fighting that ended in 1994. Armenian forces also took control of substantial territory around the Azerbaijani region. Political Cartoons View All 1176 ImagesUnder the agreement mediated by Russian peacekeeping forces, Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist authorities made sizable concessions: disbanding the region’s defense forces and withdrawing Armenia’s military contingent. Valeri Hayrapetyan from Haterk said that he and his neighbors scrambled to leave after Azerbaijani forces entered the village earlier that day.

Persons: —, ”, Elena Yeremyan, “, Valeri Hayrapetyan, Haterk, Romela Avanesyan, Jeyhun Bayramov, Ilham Aliyev, Ararat, Nikol Pashinyan, Russia’s, Aida Sultanova Organizations: Azerbaijan, Russian, RIA Novosti, “, Baku, International Committee, Russia's Defense, RIA, Russian Defense Ministry, Ararat Mirzoyan, . Security, Armenia’s, ___ Associated Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Baku, Russia, Azerbaijani, Yevlakh, Artsakh, Askeran, ”, Haterk, Caucasus, Aghdam, Stepanakert, Azerbaijan’s, Yerevan, Moscow, Armenia’s, ___

☆ Lebanese Army Says Troops Exchange Tear Gas, Smoke Bomb Fire With Israeli Forces
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Lebanese army said on Saturday that it had fired tear gas at Israeli forces in response to attacks by smoke bombs fired by the Israelis in the Bastra area of southern Lebanon. "Elements of the Israeli enemy violated the withdrawal line and fired smoke bombs at a Lebanese army patrol that was accompanying a bulldozer removing an earthen berm erected by the Israeli enemy north of the withdrawal line, the blue line, in the Bastra area," the Lebanese army said in a statement. "The Lebanese patrol responded to the attack by firing tear bombs...forcing them to withdraw to the occupied Palestinian territories." Andrea Tenenti, a spokesperson for UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in the area, said: "There has been tension today. At the moment we are on the ground, monitoring the situation and trying to bring calm back to the area."

Persons: Andrea Tenenti, Maya Gebeily, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Peter Graff Organizations: Lebanese, UNIFIL, UN Locations: CAIRO, Bastra, Lebanon, Lebanese, Palestinian

☆ Lebanese army says it exchanged tear gas, smoke bomb fire with Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view shows the border area between Lebanon and Israel as pictured from Bastra farms, in southern Lebanon, August 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCAIRO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Lebanon's army said it fired tear gas at Israeli forces over the border on Saturday in response to smoke bombs fired at its troops, though Israel said Lebanon started the confrontation. "Elements of the Israeli enemy violated the withdrawal line and fired smoke bombs at a Lebanese army patrol that was accompanying a bulldozer removing an earthen berm erected by the Israeli enemy north of the withdrawal line, the blue line, in the Bastra area," the Lebanese army said in a statement. "The Lebanese patrol responded to the attack by firing tear bombs ... forcing them to withdraw to the occupied Palestinian territories," Lebanon's army added. The Israeli military said it was Lebanon that started the violence.

Persons: Aziz Taher, Mount Dov, Andrea Tenenti, Maya Gebeily, Emily Rose, Muhammad Al Gebaly, Peter Graff, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, United, UNIFIL, UN, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Israel, Rights CAIRO, Lebanese, United Nations, Mount, Jerusalem

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Congo’s president wants the world’s second largest United Nations peacekeeping force to move up its departure from the country, starting this December, saying it has failed to rein in conflicts in the country's east. After a quarter-century of peacekeeping efforts, “it’s time for our country to take its destiny fully in hand” and become the leading security force in Congo, he said. Eastern Congo, far from the capital, has long been overrun by dozens of armed groups seeking a share of the region’s gold and other resources. A separate East African regional force is also present in eastern Congo but has seen protests as well. A visit by Pope Francis to eastern Congo planned for early this year was cancelled because of the worsening security situation there.

Persons: —, Felix, Antoine Tshisekedi, “, Pope Francis Organizations: United Nations, Wednesday Locations: NAIROBI, Kenya, Congo, Eastern Congo, Congolese, Goma

☆ Nagorno-Karabakh crisis lays bare deteriorating Armenian relationship with Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Clare Sebastian Anna Chernova Katharina Krebs Tim Lister Christian Edwards | Clare Sebastian | Anna Chernova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh has come amid a sharp deterioration in the relationship between historic allies Armenia and Russia, and has been amplified by sometimes incendiary commentary from prominent individuals in Moscow. Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to protect Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijani aggression, according to state media Armenpress. The prominent Russian military blogger Rybar said Armenia was over reliant on Russia to provide security for Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia purports to provide security to Armenia through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of post-Soviet states that includes Armenia but excludes Azerbaijan. The Armenian authorities handed over the Armenian shrine with their own hands… The fate of Judas is unenviable.”Simonyan also wrote on Telegram about protests in Yerevan.

Persons: Nikol Pashinyan, Pashinyan, Armenia’s, Armen Grigoryan, Dmitry Peskov, Pashinyan’s, Anna Hakobyan, ” Pashinyan, Dmitry Medvedev, “, ”, ” Medvedev, Rybar, –, ” Rybar, Margarita Simonyan, Judas, ” Simonyan, ’ They’ve, Vladimir Solovyov, Lavrov, Putin, Ivan, ” Solovyov, Meduza Organizations: CNN, Armenian, Armenia’s Security, Kremlin, CNN Prima News, Russia, NATO, Collective Security, Organization, Twitter Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Armenia, Russia, Moscow, Yerevan, United States, Ukraine, Kyiv, “, Azerbaijan, Russian, Soviet

☆ Nagorno-Karabakh: Azerbaijan launches operation against Armenian forces in disputed region
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Tim Lister Gianluca Mezzofiore Christian Edwards Anna Chernova Nick Paton Walsh | Tim Lister | Gianluca Mezzofiore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Azerbaijan’s defense ministry said Tuesday it had begun an “anti-terrorist” campaign in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Armenian media and local authorities reported heavy bombardment of the regional capital of Stepanakert. At least five people were killed, including a child, and 80 people were injured, amid artillery, missile and drone strikes by the Azerbaijan military, according to Armenian state news. But Armenia’s foreign ministry rejected claims that the Armenian army was in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s defense ministry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny Azerbaijan’s claims that Armenian forces had opened fire on Azeri combat outposts. People run as gunfire and explosions are heard in Stepanakert, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video.

Persons: CNN —, ”, “, Armenpress, Nikol Pashinyan, Karabakh –, Pashinyan, ” Pashinyan, Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, ” Pashinyan’s, Antony Blinken, Emmanuel Macron, Maria Zakharova, Dmitry Peskov, haven’t Organizations: CNN, Azerbaijan Army, Armenian Security Council, Foreign Ministry, Union’s, Foreign Affairs, French Foreign Ministry, UN Security, Russian Foreign Ministry, UN Security Council Locations: Nagorno, Karabakh, Stepanakert, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russian, Moscow, Republic of Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Russia

☆ Azerbaijan launches military action in Karabakh to disarm Armenians
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Azerbaijan launched "anti-terrorist activities" in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to restore constitutional order and drive out what it called Armenian military formations there, a move that could foreshadow a new war in the region. Loud shelling was audible from unverified social media footage filmed in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh, called Khankendi by Azerbaijan, on Tuesday. Internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, Karabakh has an overwhelmingly ethnic Armenian population and broke from Baku's control in the early 1990s after a war. Armenia had said that Baku's actions, which is said had caused a humanitarian catastrophe, something Azerbaijan denied, were illegal. Armenia's foreign ministry had said on Monday that Azerbaijan's diplomatic stance looked like it was preparing the ground for some kind of military action.

Persons: Ruben Vardanyan Organizations: Russian, Nagorno, Reuters, Baku Locations: Karabakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno, Stepanakert, Khankendi, Republic of Azerbaijan, Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Nagorno Karabakh, Baku, Turkish, Russian

☆ Ethiopian forces clash with al Shabaab in western Somalia, residents say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOGADISHU, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Ethiopian forces engaged in fierce clashes with al Shabaab fighters near the town of Rab Dhuure in western Somalia on Sunday morning, local residents said. At around 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) local residents heard large explosions followed by a heavy near the town of Rab Dhuure in Bakool region, around 20 km (12 miles) from the Ethiopia border. Al Shabaab claimed to have ambushed a large convoy of Ethiopian troops, who are operating in the area as part of regional efforts to wipe out the al Qaeda-affiliated group. "We heard about three huge explosions and then an exchange of heavy guns followed," said local resident Hassan Abdulle. In February Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya agreed to begin what they described as "search and destroy" operations against al Shabaab, in addition to the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force, which is expected to leave Somalia by the end of next year.

Persons: al, Rab Dhuure, Al Shabaab, Hassan Abdulle, Fatuma Ali, Abdi Sheikh, Hereward Holland, Susan Fenton Organizations: African Union, Thomson Locations: MOGADISHU, al Shabaab, Rab, Somalia, Bakool, Ethiopia, Al, Qaeda, Djibouti, Kenya

☆ Is one of Russia’s oldest allies slipping from the Kremlin’s orbit?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-17 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“Armenia’s security architecture 99.999% was linked to Russia,” he told Italian newspaper La Repubblica earlier this month. Analysts said the effectiveness of Russia's peacekeeping presence, which began after the war in 2020, has diminished over time. “Russia failed to deliver on its promises to secure the Lachin corridor… Russia failed to deliver weapons that Armenia purchased from Russia, Russia failed to curtail Azerbaijan’s expansionist and aggressive behavior against Armenia,” said Ter-Matevosyan. But in trying to shore up its security vis-a-vis Azerbaijan, Armenia has inadvertently delivered a stinging snub to Russia. “We have to remember that Russia has a huge destructive potential in the region,” said Ter-Matevosyan, referring to Russia’s sizable military base north of Yerevan.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Nikol Pashinyan, ”, Pashinyan, Armenia’s, Tofik Babayev, Azerbaijain, Vahram, Matevosyan, Karen Minasyan, Ter, Marie Dumoulin, Azerbaijan’s, ” Dumoulin, “, Putin, Ilham Aliyev –, He’s, Aliyev, Dumoulin, Dmitry Peskov, ’ ”, Anna Ohanyan, Ohanyan, –, Will Organizations: CNN, La Repubblica, Russian Federation, Getty, American University of Armenia, Collective Security, Organization, European Council, Foreign Relations, ICC, Politico, NATO, Stonehill College, Kremlin Locations: Armenia, Soviet, Ukraine, Rome, Russia, Azerbaijan, Italian, Russian, Nagorno, Karabakh, AFP, Turkey, Yerevan, “ Armenia, Moscow, “ Russia, Baku, Pashinyan, Massachusetts, “, Belarus, Repubblica, Western

☆ EU Troops Confront Would-Be Rioters in Exercise Echoing Bosnia Political Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - As a group of would-be protesters grows, shouting and blowing their whistles at the EU force's camp in Sarajevo, a military aircraft flies low and helicopters take off, all as part of a EUFOR exercise echoing the current political crisis in Bosnia. Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist, has long sought to separate the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia from the rest of it. EUFOR replaced NATO troops in Bosnia in 2004 with a mandate to stabilise the ethnically divided country. Last year, days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU decided to almost double the size of its peacekeeping force from 600 troops by sending in reserves to ward off any potential instability. NATO and senior EU officials have warned that instability from the war in Ukraine could spread to the Western Balkans.

Persons: Milorad Dodik, Vladimir Putin, Helmut Habermayer, Habermayer, EUFOR, Daria Sito, Hugh Lawson Organizations: EU, Bosnian, NATO Locations: SARAJEVO, Sarajevo, Bosnia, Bosnian Serbs, Russian, Russia, Ukraine, Balkans

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