Thousands of fresh foreign troops arrive in Afghanistan this year, but some prominent aid agencies are voicing concerns that this could lead to the intensification of the conflict, with dire humanitarian consequences. The civilian death toll has been mounting, and insecurity, attacks on, and intimidation of, aid agencies have also squeezed humanitarian space across the country, thus reducing or denying essential services to many vulnerable communities.

Thousands of internally displaced in Somalia's central town of Beletweyne are on the move again following 10 days of fighting between rival Islamist militias, amid reports of continuing heavy shelling in parts of the town. According to a humanitarian bulletin covering 8-15 January by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 30 people have been killed and 50 injured, mostly civilians, with many artillery shells landing on residential areas. OCHA could not confirm the number of displaced.

Rebellion in Chiapas— The Zapatista Movement in Modern Mexico
Sixteen years ago this month, the Zapatista uprising in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas shocked the world, as a previously unknown army of indigenous Maya took up arms to repudiate the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Journalist and World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg, author of Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico, will speak on the dynamics that led to the rebellion, and look back both on the gains and defeats of the Zapatista struggle since the 1994 uprising.

David L. Wilson of Weekly News Update on the Americas reports from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 15:

PORT-AU-PRINCE — I finally saw uniformed Haitian police on the street here at about 9 AM two days ago, on Wednesday, more than 16 hours after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the Haitian capital.

Reports rose Jan. 18 of looting and vigilantism among increasingly desperate earthquake survivors as Port-au-Prince awaits the deployment of more US troops. A 12,000-strong US contingent is expected to arrive by the end of the week, to assist the 3,000 police and some 9,000 troops from the UN force MINUSTAH in the city. The reported lynching of one suspected looter along with shootings have led to an increase in UN patrols. The country's legal system and government are largely non-operational. Some 1,000 US troops have already landed in Haiti, with 3,000 more working from ships. Lt. Gen. Ken Keen of the US Southern Command was cited acknowledging that violence is hindering the aid effort. "We are going to have to address the situation of security," Keen said. (AP, Jurist, Jan. 18; MINUSTAH website)

The Taliban carried out a daylight terror assault Jan. 18 on government centers and civilian targets in Kabul, creating panic and sparking gun battles in the heart of the city. Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launched an attack outside a central square where the presidential palace, Justice Ministry, and Central Bank are located. Fighting spread to the Serena Hotel, the Grand Afghan shopping center, and a movie theater.

The Supreme Iraq Criminal Tribunal sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid to death by hanging on Jan. 17, finding him guilty of having ordered the Kurdish town of Halabja gassed in 1988. The gassing of Halabja, which killed 5,000 Kurds, was part of the wider Anfal campaign against Kurds in Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime, which saw numerous such attacks. Though al-Majid, better known by his sobriquet "Chemical Ali," has the right to appeal, Iraq deputy justice minister Busho Ibrahim said that his hanging is expected within days. Al-Majid, who has already been sentenced to death three other times, has still more alleged crimes to his name, but those will not go to trial.

As paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division took control of the airport in Port-au-Prince, spearheading a force of 10,000 US troops deployed to Haiti, Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega raised fears about a new Yankee occupation of the Caribbean nation. "What is happening in Haiti seriously concerns me," Ortega said Jan. 17. "It seems that the bases [in Latin America] are not sufficient." He added: "There is no logic that US troops [have] landed in Haiti. Haiti seeks humanitarian aid, not troops. It would be madness we all began to send troops to Haiti." Nicaragua has sent 31 military doctors to Haiti, along with shipments of humanitarian aid. (Press TV, Iran, Jan. 17)