Clashes erupted Oct. 24 between the Lebanese army and Sunni gunmen in the northern city of Tripoli, leaving a militant leader dead and two soldiers wounded. The fighting began when a group of some 20 militants attacked an army post in the neighborhood of Khan al-Askar after dusk. Authorities believe the attack was launched in response to rumors that a suspected ISIS militant arrested the previous day in north Lebanon had died in custody. The detained militant, Ahmad Salim Mikati, was captured in a raid in the Dinnieh region. Security sources said that Mikati admitted to belonging to ISIS and was plotting to kidnap soldiers. Mikati's nephew, Bilal Mikati, was allegedly involved in the beheading of a captive Lebanese soldier in August. The Tripoli clashes were the first since the outbreak of Syria's war to break out in the city's historic souks area, being considered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. (Daily Star, Lebanon, Middle East Eye, Oct. 24)

Pakistani and Iranian forces exchanged mortar fire along their border in the divided region of Baluchistan Oct. 24. Pakistani officials said Iran fired six mortar shells, which landed near the border town of Mashkail. Pakistan is then believed to have fired back. The two countries share a long desert border which straddles Balochistan province in southwest Pakistan and Sistan Baluchistan in eastern Iran. Last week, Pakistan said a Frontier Corps soldier was killed and three were hurt in a clash with Iranian troops who crossed the border, presumably in pursuit of militants. Islamabad lodged a diplomatic protest. Pakistan is accused by Iran of failing to stop cross-border attacks on its forces by Sunni militants. But Baluch militants are also making trouble within Pakistan. On Oct. 23, two were killed in an explosion taregetting a Frontier Corps convoy near Quetta, Balochistan's capital. That same day, a gunman opened fire on members of Shi'ite Hazara minority who were returning from an open-air market in a bus, killing eight. Also that day, Fazl-ur-Rehman, leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) political party, was targeted in a suicide blast in Quetta, although he escaped unharmed. (BBC News, BBC News, The Nation, Pakistan, Express-Tribune, Pakistan, Oct. 24)

Thousands took to the streets of Isfahan Oct. 22, demanding authorities act to halt a spate of acid attacks on young women in the historic Iranian city. Assailants on motorbikes have thrown acid in the face of at least eight women who were driving in the street with their windows rolled down in recent weeks. Local media say the number of victims could be higher. The attacks have so far claimed one life. Many Iranians believe that women were targeted because they were wearing clothes that could be deemed inappropriate by hardliners—a claim denied by the authorities. The protest was apparently a "wildcat" march, held in defiance of police efforts to close the streets. A similarly demonstration was held across from the parliament building in Tehran. (NCRI, Oct. 23; The Guardian, Oct. 22)

Multiple confrontations are impending between Russian authorities and the Tatar minority in annexed Crimea. Akhtem Chyyhoz, deputy head of the Majlis, the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, stated this week that the Majlis will not comply with Moscow's demand that the assembly register within the framework of Russia's legislation on civic organizations and associations. "The point is that they are suggesting that we register at the level of a civic organization which is unacceptable since the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People is an elected representative body," he said. "It is impossible to put it in the same category as civic organizations." The current head of the Majlis, Refat Chubarov, and former Majlis leader and Ukrainian MP Mustafa Dzhemiliev have both been banned from their homeland for five years by order of Russian authorities. The bans came after the Tatar leaders called for a boycott of the March referendum on Crimean secession from Ukraine, and then of the September Crimean elections. On Sept. 17, three days after the elections, FSB troops  carried out a 12-hour-search of the Majlis premises in Simferopol. The following day, the Majlis was evicted from the building. (Human Rights in Ukraine, Oct. 22)

On Sept. 30, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos and their respective cabinet ministers held a rare joint meeting in Peru's Amazon river port of Iquitos. There, they signed a binational accord to launch a joint effort to "cleanse Putumayo"—a reference to the jungle river basin that has for many years been under the virtual control of criminal enterprises. The Río Putumayo, a tributary of the Amazon, forms the border between the two countries in the lawless region. The Colombian side is a key stronghold of the FARC guerillas, which is believed to do business with the criminal gangs that operate freely on the Peruvian side. Santos said "we have common enemies, such as the narco-traffic, illegal mining and cutting of forests." (El Tiempo, Sept. 30) He did not mention that efforts at cooperation to get the Putumayo under control have been hampered by an ongoing border dispute in the area.

At a Conservative Party conference on the island of San Andres Oct. 16, Colombia's Prosecutor General Alejandro Ordoñez slammed President Juan Manuel Santos for "protecting a terrorist" by failing to arrest FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño AKA "Timochenko." The comments came after press revelations that Timochenko had secretly attended the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerillas in Havana, Cuba. (Colombia Reports, Oct. 17; The City Paper, Bogotá, Oct. 12)

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Oct. 15 called for the elimination of terrorist groups operating in the country, revealing details of the investigation into the murder of legislator Robert Serra. The young lawmaker, a rising star in the ruling PSUV, was found stabbed to death with his partner in their apartment in Caracas Oct. 3. Maduro announced that two arrested in the case were linked to an unnamed paramilitary leader in Colombia who he said was "plotting" to destabilize Venezuela. The local operative for the network in Caracas was named as Padilla Leyva (no first name given), who was said to go by the nom de guerre "El Colombia." Maduro said a manhunt is underway for fugitive members of the network. According to UN figures, Venezuela has the second highest peacetime murder rate in the world after Honduras. (TeleSUR, Oct. 15; BBC News, Oct. 13; BBC News, Oct. 3)

Journalist Taing Tri of the local Vealntri newspaper in Cambodia's Kratie province was shot dead Oct. 12 as he attempted to photograph trucks transporting illegal luxury wood near Pum Ksem Kang Krow village. Tri is the 13th journalist to be killed in the line of duty since Cambodia's first democratic elections in 1993, and his death bears a disturbing resemblance to the 2012 murder in Ratanakiri province of Heng Serei Oudom, who was known for his reporting on illegal logging in the region. The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) condemned Tri's murder and called on local authorities to bring the killers to justice "in order to end the cycle of impunity for those who perpetuate violence against journalists in Cambodia." To date, no one has been convicted for the murder of Oudom or any of the other journalists killed in Cambodia over the last 11 years. (IFEX, Oct. 15)