Thursday

December 17, 2015

Armed conflicts and attacks

Niger's president Mahamadou Issoufou announces that an attempted coup, involving the use of aerial firepower to overthrow the government has been foiled and those behind it have been arrested. Among those taken into custody were the former military chief of staff, General Souleymane Salou, and Lt. Colonel Dan Haoua, head of the air force base in the capital Niamey. (The Guardian)

Libyan Civil War

Delegates from Libya's warring factions sign a U.N.-brokered agreement to form a national unity government. Some of Libya's armed brigades are closely allied with political leaders who oppose this agreement. (Reuters) (Al Arabiya)

2015 PKK rebellion

Turkish security forces kill 23 suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in operations in the Kurdish-majority cities of Cizre and Silopi. (BBC)

The Turkish Army deploys tanks into civilian areas of Silopi and soldiers are reportedly going house-to-house in search of PKK militants. The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) condemns the Turkish military actions in Silopi. (Today's Zaman)

American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)

American-led airstrikes kill at least 180 Islamic State fighters while local Kurdish forces repel an assault by 300 heavily armed militants in northern Iraq. (The Washington Post)

Disasters and accidents

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The epicenter was 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the town of Tres Picos, not far from the Pacific coast. There are no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. (Reuters) (USGS)

As many as 36 miners die in a pair of accidents in Northeast China. (AP via ABC News)

Nineteen workers trapped by Wednesday's gas explosion and raging fire in a coal mine in Hegang in Heilongjiang privince are not expected to survive because of carbon monoxide and the high temperatures from the fire, according to the rescue and command office's Zhang Qinxiang. Thirty-three miners escaped. (MINING.com)

A fire caused by sparks from welding equipment kills 17 workers in the Xingli coal mine in Huludao city in Liaoning province. The State Administration of Work Safety reports 13 miners died at the site while four died at the hospital. Another ten miners are hospitalized. (Xinhua) (AP via The Washington Post)