Innocent civilians killed due to conflict in Congo

Ethnic hatred between the Congolese people as well as the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis have led to violent fighting on Congo’s eastern border.

The United Nations and Human Rights Watch have said that the fighting in Congo has displaced more than a million people and there have been hundreds of casualties. Many of the displaced people have either gone to UN-protected camps within Congo or fled to neighboring countries.

According to the Human Rights Watch, rebel forces, under General Laurent Nkunda, and government-backed Mai Mai militias were killing innocent civilians who were trapped in the middle of their conflict zone. After fighting for two days, the rebels were able to re-establish their control over Kiwanja and force the residents to evacuate the town once they killed men who they suspected of supporting their enemy, the Congolese army.

Taliban suicide bombers cause many casualties

Last Thursday, two suicide bombers killed at least 24 and wounded over 100 people in northwest Pakistan. The first suicide bomber detonation occurred at a meeting of local tribal leaders in the Swat region of the Northwest Frontier Province. Following the first attack, another bomber crashed into a police checkpoint in the same region a few hours later.

Recently, the Pakistani military launched a major offensive against the area’s Taliban fighters. The leaders were discussing methods of dealing with the rising militants. The leaders also considered forming their own militia to fight the militants.

The attack at the police checkpoint instigated a firefight between the militants and the Pakistani security forces that continued for several hours.

Afghanistan’s resentment increases due to air strike

Nov. 5, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai reported that a US air strike killed over 40 Afghan civilians. Karzai has called on the president-elect, Barack Obama, to stop the killing of innocent civilians.

Many Afghans have fallen victim to US air strikes in the past year, leading to an increase in resentment toward the US. “By bombing Afghanistan, the war against terrorism cannot be won,” Karzai told a news conference. Over 28 civilians were wounded in the air strike.

Along with various casualties from US air strikes, the Taliban in this past year has killed over 4,000 Afghans, one-third of whom are civilians.

The US has issued an apology to Karzai and the people of Afghanistan, but they assert that the rare and accidental killing of civilians is much less frequent than the intentional killing of civilians by the Taliban.

Source: www.CNN.com

Compiled by Will Moser Staff Reporter and Buyana Ganbold Asst. News Editor