Cross-border firing in Kashmir killed an Indian soldier on Sunday evening, in breach of a six-year ceasefire between India and Pakistan which has been put under an increasing amount of strain in recent months.
The toD verdict: It was still not clear on Monday whether the firing had come from separatist militants or the Pakistani troops, but in either case it will fuel tensions between India and Pakistan. The former has, in the past, accused Pakistani troops of aiding insurgents to cross the border which divides Kashmir between the two countries in order to participate in the revolt there which started 19 years ago.
The massacre in Mumbai last November, blamed on insurgents based in Pakistan, led to the cooling of relations between the Indian and Pakistani governments. The authorities in New Delhi are reluctant to resume peace talks until Pakistan takes action against rebel groups on their common border; earlier this month, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari met at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Russia where Singh told the Pakistani leader to ensure that militants are unable to operate from Pakistan.
This incident came on the same weekend as an attack by a Taliban suicide bomber, which killed two soldiers on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the control of Kashmir, and Pakistani prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday that an acceptable resolution of control of the region was key to the development of a "cordial relationship" between the two countries.
Zelaya overthrown by Honduras coup
Months of tension over efforts by President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras to lift presidential term limits was swept aside this weekend, when an army coup wrestled power from the president's hands. In what Zelaya has described as an illegal act, soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the country's capital of Tegucigalpa early on Sunday and forced the president onto a plane to Costa Rica. The military coup, the first to occur in Central America since the Cold War and later confirmed by a vote in the Honduran Congress, has led to international criticism of the army for disregarding the rule of law and democratic norms. Barack Obama, amongst others, has spoken out to condemn the move, despite the leftist Zelaya's alignment with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and the latter's accusations that the United States themselves orchestrated the attack on the government.
Market bomb in Philippines kills 15
A bomb at a market in the southern Philippines injured fifteen people when it went off early on Monday morning. The blast, which occurred in the Datu Saudi Ampatuan township of Maguindanao province, is thought to have only claimed the life of the perpetrator. It is unclear who was responsible for the explosion and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an anti-government group, has denied involvement. The province has been plagued by clashes between state forces and separatists for over 40 years.
Protests in Iran continue, while authorities point finger at Britain
Protests took place outside the Ghoba mosque in Tehran on Sunday, with Iranian security forces clashing with around 3000 demonstrators in what was the first sign of unrest in four days. The demonstrations were officially called to commemorate a bombing in 1981 that took 70 lives, and so had been authorised by the authorities, but it quickly developed into a protest against what many still see as the rigged election results and police broke up the crowd with batons and tear gas. Staff at the British embassy in the Iranian capital were detained due to their supposed involvement in the protests. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, has accused British and American actors of inciting unrest in the aftermath of the elections, and diplomatic links between Iran and the British are crumbling despite Iranian claims that this is not their intention.
Around 20 people have died as a result of the ongoing protests in response to the results of the Iranian elections. Verification of events continues to prove difficult due to restrictions imposed on journalists in Iran.
SLA accused Sudanese government of murderous tactics
The relative calm that has taken over western Sudan in past weeks was under strain on Sunday when rebels accused the Sudanese government of a bomb strike which killed eight civilians and much of the area's livestock. The insurgents, part of the Sudan Liberation Army, have said that the attacks follow government tactics of starvation, marginalisation and murder in order to hold on to power. Anti-government fighting has been endemic in Sudan since rebel groups took up arms in 2003; yesterday's attack, if confirmed, will be the most significant since clashes in the northern towns of Umm Baru and Kornoi in May.
Militants threaten to continue attacks until drone strikes stop
A mine attack on a military convoy in South Waziristan on Sunday killed twelve soldiers and injured a further ten, in what was allegedly an ambush carried out by militants belonging to the Baitullah Mehsud group. Gul Bahadur, who along with Maulvi Nazir leads the Shoora Ittihad-i-Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attacks, which led to a gun battle between the two sides and claimed the lives of ten militants. Some reports claimed that up to sixty soldiers were killed in total.
Those responsible for attacks such as this one have said that they will not stop until the governments ceases its drone attacks and removes troops from North Waziristan. However, this seems unlikely due to the current stalemate situation. On the same day as the convoy attack, an airplane strike was carried out on militants in South Waziristan. In total, the day saw several such strikes which killed 12 militants and wounded seven others in Kotkai, Sararogha and Laddha.
Iraq "ready" for US troop pull-out
American troops are to pull out of all major cities in Iraq on 30 June, a move which the Iraqis are "ready" for, according to the commander of American troops in Iraq General Ray Odierno. Security forces are reinforcing checkpoints in the lead-up to what Salim al-Jubouri, spokesman for the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, has called a "turning point" for the country on all levels. Violence is expected to accompany the troop withdrawal, and on Monday morning a bomb explosion by the side of a road, targeting an American military convoy, injured six people.
