The 600,000 inhabitants of Sri Lanka’s Jaffna Peninsula, already buffeted by decades of conflict, are now facing food and fuel shortages as a result of a recent upsurge in fighting between Tamil separatists and Government forces, with many businesses closed due to security concerns, according to the latest update from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today expressed deep concern at reports that a large number of civilians may have died during the conduct of military operations yesterday in the south of the war-torn country.

Timor-Leste’s airport reopened today after the United Nations police force helped end fighting between gangs and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the small South-East Asian nation that was shaken earlier this year by violence attributed to differences between eastern and western regions.

Strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in peacebuilding and conflict prevention, along with developments in Asia since the reported nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), are among the issues being discussed by the UN’s top political officer in meetings with high-level officials during a three-nation visit.