Baghdad, July 4
The Iraqi army retook Saddam Hussein's home village overnight, a symbolic victory in its struggle to seize back swathes of the country from Sunni insurgents. Backed by helicopter gunships and helped by Shia Muslim volunteers, the army recaptured the village of Awja in an hour-long battle on Thursday night, according to state media, police and local inhabitants.

Awja lies 8 km south of Tikrit, a city that remains in rebel hands since Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), launched a lightning assault across northern Iraq last month.

The offensive to retake Tikrit began on June 28, but the army has still failed to retake the city which fell after the police and army imploded last month in the face of the militant onslaught that also captured Mosul and other major Sunni areas. The military spokesman of embattled Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Awja had been "totally cleansed" and 30 militants killed, according to state television.

The birthplace of Saddam, Awja benefited hugely from the largesse of the Sunni dictator before his ousting by the US invasion of 2003 and locals remained fiercely loyal to the man who would select his relatives from the area for top posts.

Spokesman Qassim Atta said security forces had seized control of several government buildings, including a water treatment plant, but security sources and residents said militants were still holding Iraqi forces from entering Tikrit. The army said it now held the 50-km stretch of highway running north from the city of Samarra, which is 100 km north of Baghdad, to Awja.

But the mainly Sunni communities along this corridor remain hostile towards government forces and army convoys continue to come under guerrilla attack. Military officials in the United States, which has deployed advisers to Iraq, believe the Iraqi army will be able to defend Baghdad but struggle to recapture lost territory, mainly because of logistical weaknesses.

Government forces could benefit if cracks in the loose alliance of insurgents in Sunni majority areas widens. In the town of Hawija, site of infighting last month between Islamist fighters and Sunni militia forces, members of local Sunni tribes told Reuters that community members had organized to fight against the militants in control of the town. Members of the Al-Obaidi tribe were angered over the militants' seizure of homes of local sheikhs and officials and had formed an armed group that killed five insurgents on patrol in the town on Friday, residents said. — Reuters

Kiev, July 4
Ukraine's embattled new leader agreed today to immediate crisis talks with rebel commanders and Russia aimed at stemming the bloodshed that has threatened his country's survival and ruptured East-West ties.

Clashes in the economically-vital border regions of Lugansk and Donetsk have picked up with renewed vigour since Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko tore up a 10-day ceasefire earlier this week.

His decision on Monday was immediately followed by the launch of a "massive" offensive by Kiev that led President Vladimir Putin to warn that Russia has the right to protect its compatriots in Ukraine.

The head of Ukraine's national security and defence council said government forces had regained control over 23 of the conflict zone's 36 local regions. But the military also reported the loss of nine soldiers in the latest overnight exchanges of mortar fire.

The uprising was sparked by the February ouster of a pro-Kremlin administration and fuelled by Russia's subsequent seizure of Crimea. Nearly three months of guerrilla warfare has killed more than 460 people and left Western leaders frustrated by repeated mediation failures.

But the ongoing low-scale warfare on the European Union's eastern frontier has also unified the West in its biggest pushback to date against Putin's seeming attempt to reassert command over former Soviet lands. — AFP 

Mandalay, July 4
Thousands of people, some wielding sticks, flooded Myanmar's second-largest city today as tensions spiked during the funeral of a victim of Buddhist-Muslim clashes that have raised fears of spreading violence.

A procession led by scores of motorcycles carried the coffin of the 36-year-old slain Buddhist man through the heart of Mandalay, as anger grew following unrest in which a Muslim man was also killed.

The violence on Tuesday and Wednesday saw mobs wielding airguns, swords, rocks and other weapons go on a rampage through the central metropolis.

It was the latest in a string of deadly religious clashes that have plagued the former junta-run nation for two years, prompting warnings that the country's fragile transition to democracy could be imperilled.

Authorities imposed an overnight curfew on Thursday to quell the riots, which left 14 people injured. The police arrested nine persons in connection with the unrest.

An AFP reporter at the scene said there was a relatively light security presence in central Mandalay despite the large crowds. The wife of the Buddhist victim, who was attacked on Wednesday evening, told AFP that she could not understand why the father of her three children was targeted. — AFP

Islamabad, July 4
Over 5,72,000 people have been displaced in Pakistan military's offensive against Taliban in the restive North Waziristan province, an official said today. "The number of displaced people registered so far is 5,72,5295. They belong to 44,600 families," Commissioner of Bannu Syed Mohsin Ali said.

He said government has set up special registration point for these people. The government is providing help in a well-organised manner to the main city of Bannu where displaced are being kept, Ali added.

Ali said that "Financial support of Rs 12,000 per family has already been given to 28,000 families and soon we will begin the second phase of more cash support and each family will be given another Rs 28,000." Total cash support was enhanced to Rs 40,000 after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited the displaced last month.

More than 70 per cent of the displaced people were provided with the food and other essential items, military spokesman in Bannu Brigadier Aftab said. "So far 40,000 families have received ration," he said.

The Pakistan government had tried to negotiate a peace deal with the banned militant group to find a solution to the decade-long insurgency that has claimed over 40,000 lives.

But peace talks failed and after a series of terror attacks, including one on Karachi international airport.

The army launched operation "Zarb-e-Azb" on June 15, an all out assault against local and foreign militants linked to Al-Qaida.

So far a total of 386 militants and 19 soldiers have been killed in the offensive.

The operation is slowly moving due to Ramadan and scorching summer as military is clearing the areas. A military official said that so far major parts of Miranshah town have been cleared.

The militants have not posed any major challenge to the army and there are reports that most of them have fled to Afghanistan. — PTI