· February, 2011

Stories about War & Conflict from February, 2011

Afghanistan: The price paid by children for the conflict

  20 February 2011

A UN report testifies that children in Afghanistan have been used both by anti-government elements for suicide bombings and planting explosives, and by the Afghan National Security Forces. It also covers facts of sexual violence committed by armed groups against boys and girls, Nick Fielding says.

Colombia: Report Reveals 2010 Refugee Statistics

  19 February 2011

“A new report shows that 280,000 Colombians were displaced in 2010, and one-third of these were in areas the government claimed were “consolidated.”  Colombia has a total of 5.2 million displaced people, roughly 1 out of every 9 Colombians, and the most in the world,” writes Greg Weeks in Two...

Armenia: Blind nationalist hatred

  19 February 2011

Unzipped comments on what appears to be an orchestrated black PR campaign against a local musician in Armenia. One of four finalists in the running to compose the country's entry into this year's Eurovision Song Contest, reports in the local media attack Vahram Petrosyan for considering that Armenian and Azerbaijani...

India And Pakistan: Ideological Enemies?

  18 February 2011

“Are India and Pakistan ideological enemies?” asks Dr. Niaz Murtaza at Pak Tea House. Murtaza thinks that both the countries should resolve their differences maturely by dialogue, not by other means.

Mexico: Activist's House Set on Fire in Ciudad Juárez

  18 February 2011

Ciudad Juárez, en la sombra del narcotráfico [es] (“Ciudad Juárez, in the shadow of drug trafficking”) reports that on February 16, Malú García Andrade's house was set on fire. Malú is an activist against femicides and human trafficking. Her mother, Norma Andrade, is a co-founder of the non-profit “May our...

Bahrain: More Gunshots in Capital

  18 February 2011

Reports of shootings in different locations in the Bahraini capital Manama have flooded social media sites this Friday afternoon. Tweeps at the scene describe the carnage as Bahrain braces itself for more bloodshed and heartbreak.

Brazil/USA: “Can the US shutdown the Internet?”

  18 February 2011

On his blog, brazilian journalist Altamiro Borges writes [pt, en] about the capacity of the USA to shutdown the internet in moments of crisis while commenting on an article by Cuarta Generación (Fourth Generation) [es], which says “US is heavily investing in order not to be surprised by the web”.

Colombia: Outrage after failed FARC hostage release

  14 February 2011

On December 8, 2010, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) announced they would release five hostages in an open letter to former senator Piedad Córdoba. However, things did not go as planned on Sunday: two hostages were not present at the coordinates provided by FARC. Many Colombian Twitter users expressed their outrage as a result.

Tajikistan: Dead insurgent lives forever online

  14 February 2011

Nathan Hamm writes that one of the most notorious Tajik opposition commanders Ali Bedaki, who was reportedly killed in combat operations, as been noticed on a YouTube video that shows him being interrogated in the back of a vehicle. The Tajikistan government claims the video is a fake, but the...