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About What's In Blue

When the Security Council approaches the final stage of negotiation of a draft resolution the text is printed in blue. What's in Blue is a regular feed of insights produced by Security Council Report on evolving Security Council decisions. It is designed to help interested readers at UN Missions keep up with what might soon be "in blue". These insights supplement the Monthly Forecasts and other reports from SCR.

What's in the news

posted on Mon 20 May 2013

Middle East

• Two suspected militants killed in Yemen drone strike. Two suspected al-Qaida militants were killed on Monday in a drone strike on their vehicle south of the capital Sanaa, tribal and government sources said. The strike follows another on Saturday in which at least four militants were killed in Abyan governorate, in southern Yemen. A Yemeni official did not say who was behind the attack, but previous strikes have been carried out by the US. (Reuters)
• Report says 23 Hezbollah members killed in Syria. Syrian government forces pushed deeper into a strategic opposition-held town near the Lebanese border Monday, battling rebels in fierce street fighting, state-media reported. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 23 elite fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group fighting alongside regime troops have been killed in the clashes. The group said that more than 100 Hezbollah members also have been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. (AP)
• Wave of attacks kills at least 79 in Iraq. A wave of attacks killed at least 79 people in Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, officials said, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 200 and extending one of the most sustained bouts of sectarian violence the country has seen in years. The renewed violence in both Shiite and Sunni areas since late last month has fueled concerns of a return to sectarian warfare. Since last Wednesday alone, at least 224 people have been killed in attacks. (AP)

Asia

• Suicide bomber kills senior official, 14 others in Afghan north. A suicide bomber blew up a senior official and 14 others outside a government office in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan on Monday, police said. The bomber targeted Mohammad Rasoul Mohseni, head of the provincial council office, a consultative body that reports to the provincial governor. President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack in Baghlan in a statement, calling it "un-Islamic". (Reuters)

Africa

• M23 rebels attack DRC army as UN force deploys. Heavy fighting has taken place between government and rebel forces in eastern DRC. These are the first clashes between the two sides since the rebels pulled out of the regional capital, Goma, last year. They come after the UN began deploying an attack force to the area last week. Meanwhile, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said that UN troops had "in some cases" made the situation in DRC worse. (BBC)

Arms Control and Disarmament

• North Korea fires 6th missile in 3 days. North Korea has fired two more short-range missiles into waters off its eastern coast, making six launches in three days. South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea fired one missile on Monday morning and another in the afternoon into the East Sea - also called the Sea of Japan. Pyongyang on Monday rejected criticism of the missile exercises, saying that military training is the indisputable right of any sovereign nation. (VOA)

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