Asia longest insurgency close to end

The leaders of the Philippines' biggest Muslim rebel group arrived in Manila on Sunday for a historic visit aimed at ending one of Asia's longest and deadliest insurgencies.

Flag MILF or MNLF [Flag fotw]

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chief Murad Ebrahim and other senior rebel figures emerged from their remote bases in the country's south to oversee the signing of an accord on Monday that outlines a road map for peace by 2016.

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The accord, announced by President Benigno Aquino a week ago, has won applause from foreign governments and the United Nations as a rare chance to end a rebellion that has killed an estimated 150,000 people since the 1970s.

Read more about it at Business Recorder

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30 insurgent camps in Afghanistan interfering in Balochistan

As Balochistan slides deeper into chaos, the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) has said that Baloch insurgents are maintaining 121 Farari (fugitive) camps in different parts of the province where they train their fighters.

“Another such 30 camps are located across the border in Afghanistan,” FC’s Inspector General Maj Gen Obaidullah Khan told a press briefing at the force’s headquarters on Saturday. He claimed that some ‘foreign powers’ were funding these camps.

Giving the break-up, Maj Gen Khan said that 40 camps were being run by the Baloch Liberation Army, 26 by the Baloch Republican Army and 19 by the Baloch Liberation Front.

He called for a political solution to the Balochistan turmoil which, he believes, is ‘purely political’ in nature. However, he warned that anti-state elements would be dealt with an iron hand.

Read more: Express Tribune

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