Casualties reported in Karabakh amid escalating conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan
“The Armed Forces of Armenia violated the truce along the line of contact 127 times over the past 24 hours,” Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement Saturday.
“Active combat is currently underway. The Armenian Army has launched a counterattack… There are victims on both sides but the opposing side has sustained huge losses in manpower and equipment, a [Azerbaijani] helicopter has been shot down,” the Armenian Defense Ministry’s spokesperson said.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1988, after the predominantly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region announced its secession from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991, prompting a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1994. http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160402/1037362816/armenia-azerbaijan-karabakh-violent.html
Other Significant Events
Drought Plagues Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam’s, largest and most fertile plain, has been plagued by once-in-a-century drought since late last year, seriously affecting people’s lives. The region extends more than 40,000 square kilometers covering 13 provinces and cities.
“The ongoing serious drought is damaging some 160,000 hectares of paddy rice in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, causing losses of some 5,000 billion Vietnamese dong (222.2 million U.S. dollars), and affecting about 290,000 hectares of fruit trees, local media reported Tuesday.” http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Hunger replaces war in Congo’s Katanga
Some 550,000 people have been affected by extreme rain events and flooding across the DRC between October and March.
http://www.irinnews.org/news/2016/04/01/hunger-replaces-war-congo’s-katanga
South Sudan: Between 20,000 and 50,000 people are now reported to have been displaced in Wau county, Western Bahr el Ghazal, since fighting escalated in February.
Sudan: 24,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Jebel Marra in the last month, bringing the total displaced since mid-January to over 129,000.
An additional 70,000 people are thought to have fled to Central Darfur, but access restrictions have made this impossible to verify.
Côte d’Ivoire: Clashes between Fulani herders and Lobi farmers in the northeastern town of Bouna have led to at least 20 dead and 39 injured. Around 1,200 people reportedly fled to Burkina Faso, while another 2,000 have sought refuge at the UN base in Bouna town.
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