The head of the UN military operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo has criticised the conduct of government forces, saying order needs to be restored and they should stop unjustified retreats.

N'DJAMENA, Oct 14, 2007 (AFP) - Factional violence has killed some 20 people since Friday in Chad in the far east of the country near the Sudanese border, Chadian government sources said Sunday.

After 'native and non-native' skirmishes along the border, 'governmental forces intervened and the situation is more or less calm,' a Chadian government official requesting anonymity told AFP.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has given the US Army the go-ahead to grow by 65,000 troops two years sooner than planned to ease stress on the force, senior Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

The army intends to meet the new goal mainly by retaining more troops rather than by trying to recruit more, they said.

WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - The US Army will need three or four years to recover from the strains of repeated deployments to Iraq even with a planned drawdown of US forces next year, the service's chief said Monday.

General George Casey said the army is 'out of balance' after six years of warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq, and facing unpredictable demands in an era of 'persistent conflict.'

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Pakistan's former spymaster took over as the vice chief of army staff on Monday, setting him up to succeed President Pervez Musharraf as leader of the army in coming weeks, officials said.

General Ashfaq Kiyani, the ex-head of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, received a guard of honour at army headquarters in Rawalpindi as he arrived to take up the new position, a military statement said.

'Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani assumed the charge of office today,' the statement said.

BEIRUT, Oct 6, 2007 (AFP) - Lebanon's army commander, General Michel Suleiman, led a tribute on Saturday to the 167 soldiers who died in this summer's siege of Islamist militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp.

'September 2 is an honourable date in the history of the nation,' he said of the day the siege of Nahr al-Bared camp ended with the defeat of fighters from Fatah al-Islam, a group he called the 'most important terrorist organisation' ever known in Lebanon.

PRAGUE, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Two Czech soldiers face criminal charges for not performing their guard duties properly at the Basra base in southern Iraq, Czech media reported on Monday.

One of the soldiers allowed a vehicle into the base without checking it, the other left his post ride a borrowed motorcycle with some local people, Czech public television reported.

BANGKOK, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Thailand's General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led last year's coup, has stepped down as head of the nation's junta, paving the way for him to join the cabinet, a spokesman said Monday.

'His resignation took effect on September 30,' said junta spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

'Sonthi said he has completed his mission as the head of the Council for National Security (CNS),' the spokesman said, using the junta's formal name.

Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk, head of the air force, took the helm of the junta on Monday, Sansern said.

BANGKOK, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - Thailand's General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led last year's coup, has stepped down as head of the nation's junta, paving the way for him to join the cabinet, a spokesman said Monday.

'His resignation took effect on September 30,' said junta spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk, commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Air Force, will take the helm of the junta, Sansern said.

ISTANBUL, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - The Turkish military said Monday it would oppose any attempt to alter the country's secular system and warned that neighbouring Iraq is heading for disintegration, threatening Turkey's security.

'No power can transform Turkey from the republic founded by Ataturk into something else, no one can change the republic's secular structure,' Chief of General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit said, referring to modern Turkey's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

LONDON, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - British defence officials and ministers are considering cutting up to 6,000 jobs in the army because of budget constraints, The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.

According to the newspaper, which cited details emailed to it by a source within the Ministry of Defence, the MoD and the finance ministry were going through 'considerable' conflict over the details of the latest government Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

BANGKOK, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Two Thai police bomb disposal officers were wounded when a small, crudely-made explosive device blew up in a telephone booth outside the army headquarters in Bangkok late Sunday, police said.

The explosion took place in the centre of the capital, wounding one of the two officers seriously after they came to investigate a small fire at the phone booth.

BANGKOK, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Two Thai police bomb disposal officers were wounded when a crudely made explosive device blew up in a telephone booth outside the army headquarters in Bangkok late Sunday, police said.

The explosion took place in the centre of the capital, seriously wounding one officer.

'The bomb went off at around 8:50 or 9:00 pm,' said a police officer. 'Two police were injured, one seriously. The bomb ripped off his fingers, so his hand had to be amputated. We are investigating.'

ANKARA, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - A top Turkish general said Monday that the fiercely guarded principle of secularism was not up for debate amid a heated discussion on a new constitution drafted by the Islamist-rooted government.

'Secularism is the cornerstone of all values of the Turkish Republic,' General Ilker Basbug, the head of land forces, said in a speech at the military academy here, Anatolia news agency reported.

JERUSALEM, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Faced with a worrying rise in the number of draft dodgers, the Israeli army is mulling the idea of forming a dance group to attract young talent who would otherwise refuse compulsory service.

In a country fraught with security threats and where all 18-year-old men and women are required to serve three or two years, talented artists and athletes have always had to choose between career and civil duties.

MAPUTO, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - The Mozambican government on Monday authorised soldiers to gun down wild animals who are seen as a threat to human beings after a new report highlighted an increase in the number of deadly attacks.

'The number of people killed by wild animals keeps increasing,' said the government-sponsored report which found that around 300 people had been killed in the last decade.

Elephants and crocodiles were responsible for most of these deaths, said government spokesman Luis Covane.

TRIPOLI, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Tuareg rebels of the Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ) have announced the release of 14 captured Niger soldiers following an intervention by Libya.

'We announce the liberation of 14 Niger soldiers in reply to the appeal of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi,' an MNJ source reached by telephone from Tripoli told AFP late Sunday.

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Lebanese troops were engaged in heavy fighting with Fatah al-Islam militants on Sunday after crushing their attempt to break the siege on their refugee camp redoubt.

An AFP correspondent heard heavy exchanges of fire from the northern edge of the Nahr al-Bared camp.

Dozens of armoured personnel carriers, jeeps and car could be seen pouring into the area around the camp as military helicopters hovered overhead.

Police strafed the entire area around the camp with machine guns.

BAMAKO, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Malian troops freed nine of its soldiers captured just a few day ago by a group of Tuaregs and pursued the search for another 30 soldiers still being held, a military source said Wednesday.

'They are tired but safe and sound,' the source, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.

Acting on information received, the soldiers surrounded a sector about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the border with Niger, to the southeast early Wednesday.

BAMAKO, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Mali's military command has deployed more troops to three northern regions to find fellow soldiers kidnapped by Tuareg rebels in two attacks this week, a defence ministry official said Wednesday.

'We've sent patrols to the Tombouctou, Gao and Kidal regions, to find the hostages and equipment seized by a group of armed bandits,' the official told AFP, without giving numbers and asking not to be named.

DHAKA, Aug 23, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh's military-backed government, facing its first major challenge since taking office in January, on Wednesday imposed an indefinite curfew after violent student clashes that left one man dead.

'The government has declared a curfew in six divisional cities from 8:00 pm (1400 GMT) until further notice,' said Fahim Munaim, press secretary to the emergency government's leader Fakhruddin Ahmed.

DHAKA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh's military-backed government, facing its first major challenge since taking office in January, on Wednesday imposed an indefinite curfew after violent student clashes that left one man dead.

The curfew was to be clamped on six cities including the capital Dhaka from late Wednesday, said Fahim Munaim, press secretary to the emergency government's leader Fakhruddin Ahmed.

DHAKA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - The military-backed government imposed an indefinite curfew on six cities across Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka, from Wednesday night after a string of violent demonstrations.

'The government has declared a curfew in six divisional cities from 8:00 pm (1400 GMT) until further notice,' said Fahim Munaim, press secretary to the head of the emergency government.

All colleges and universities in the six cities would also be closed.

DHAKA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh's military-backed emergency government on Wednesday appealed for calm after it failed to quell a string of violent protests that left one man dead.

'The government appeals to all concerned to maintain peace and discipline,' an official statement read.

'If these unlawful acts continue, the government will be compelled to take stern actions against the perpetrators for bringing back normalcy.'

DHAKA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - One person died and dozens were hurt Wednesday as students clashed with police in Bangladesh for a third straight day, with protests spreading from the capital Dhaka to other cities, officials said.

A rickshaw puller was killed at a university in the northwestern city of Rajshahi as students threw stones at police, said police officer Sohrab Hossain.

Dozens more were injured, with three admitted to hospital for treatment, he said, adding that most of the casualties were passers-by, not protesters.

DHAKA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh's military-backed emergency government has agreed to pull army personnel out of Dhaka University after violent clashes with students demanding they leave, reports said Wednesday.

The withdrawal was expected to be completed late Wednesday, the private UNB news agency said quoting an official statement.

Thousands of Dhaka University students battled police using tear gas for a second day on Tuesday. Vehicles were set ablaze as students staged marches in defiance of the state of emergency.

JERUSALEM, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) - The Israeli army said on Thursday it had charged a junior officer with carrying out an unauthorised operation in the occupied West Bank that left a Palestinian civilian seriously wounded.

The unnamed second lieutenant was charged with organising an operation in which a taxi was stopped, the driver handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten and a nearby civilian shot and wounded.

BUJUMBURA, Aug 8, 2007 (AFP) - Burundi's main Tutsi party on Wednesday accused the government of violating a peace pact by favouring Hutus in the army and police.

The Union for National Progress (UPRONA) said the 50-50 share of military posts provided for in the 2000 Arusha peace deal was not being respected.

'There is a veiled move by the government to progressively form an army dominated by the Hutus,' the party said in a statement.

JERUSALEM, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - Israel's army said on Monday it sentenced several soldiers to one month's imprisonment for refusing to take part in a forced removal of settlers from two houses in the West Bank flashpoint town of Hebron.

'Of the dozen soldiers -- 10 ordinary ranks and two officers -- tried for 'refusing to obey orders' several were sentenced to four weeks in military prison,' a military spokesman told AFP.

JERUSALEM, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - Backed by rabbis and far-right MPs, about a dozen Israeli soldiers are refusing to take part in a forced removal of settlers from two houses in the West Bank flashpoint town of Hebron, the army said on Monday.

The soldiers are among some 3,000 troops and border police due on Tuesday to remove two families who for months have illegally squatted inside two houses in Hebron's wholesale market.

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - Two Lebanese soldiers were killed on Wednesday in battles with die-hard Islamists besieged in a seaside Palestinian refugee camp as the military marked Army Day.

A military spokesman told AFP the two soldiers died in combat with Fatah al-Islam militants who are still defending a small patch of Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon.

Their deaths brought to 125 the number of soldiers killed since the conflict began May 20.

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - The Lebanese military kept up its pressure on die-hard Islamist militants besieged in a seaside Palestinian refugee camp as it marked Army Day on Wednesday.

The fierce combat, now in its eleventh week, continued with exchanges of fire between troops and Fatah Al-Islam, which is cornered but defending a small patch of Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon.

BUKAVU, DR Congo, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - The armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo have regained control of parts of the restive east of the country controlled by dissident soldiers, a military official said Tuesday.

'We have recovered all the positions hitherto held by the insurgents. They have been routed and are scattered in small groups across the bush in the high plateaus of Minembwe,' more than 150 kilometres (93 miles) southwest of Bukavu, General Sylvain Tshikwej told AFP.

Bukavu is the capital of the restive South Kivu province.

BEIRUT, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Lebanon's military, locked in fierce battle with Islamists at a refugee camp, is to celebrate Army Day on Wednesday in an event turned into a rallying point in a country with deep political divisions.

On the eve of Army Day, youngsters on roadsides across the capital distributed red-and-white Lebanese flags bearing a cedar tree -- the country's symbol.

Across the country, banners saluting the army float along main avenues as soldiers stand tall on giant billboards with extracts from the national anthem.

JERUSALEM, July 29, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli soldiers keen to return from a Gaza mission left behind a comrade who had fallen asleep and then took more than an hour to realise that he was missing, officials and media said on Sunday.

The soldier was in an elite infantry regiment that overnight on Thursday and Friday launched an incursion into the Gaza Strip, which has been under control of the Islamist Hamas movement since June 15, the Ynet news website reported.

BANGKOK, July 28, 2007 (AFP) - At least 5,000 Thais rallied under tight security in Bangkok Saturday to demand an end to the country's army-backed government amid fears of a repeat of last Sunday's violence.

More than 300 police officers and some troops stood guard as the crowd, mostly middle-aged men and women, gathered in Sanam Luang plaza in central Bangkok.

The military has become increasingly nervous about opposition movements since more than 100 anti-coup protesters were injured in clashes with police last Sunday.

BANGKOK, July 28, 2007 (AFP) - Thousands of troops were deployed in the Thai capital Saturday to reinforce security amid fears protests against the country's army-backed government could again turn violent.

Most of the 2,100 troops were guarding Sanam Luang plaza in central Bangkok, a venue of daily rallies demanding the ouster of the junta, which came to power after last year's coup overthrowing prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - Peering at plumes of smoke billowing from a refugee camp in northern Lebanon, where the army has been battling Islamists for nearly 10 weeks, the soldier summed up the army's resolve.

'We have to win because Lebanon's future is at stake,' the commando shouted, his voice almost drowned out by the sound of blasts and sniper fire nearby.

'The army is the last remaining symbol of national unity in Lebanon,' he added. Divisions there have grown deeper since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.