Ukraine peace talks in Minsk called off

#Ukraine #PeaceTalks #Minsk #crimea It has been reported that a key round of peace talks between the government of Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels which was supposed to be held in Mink has been called off for reasons that have not been disclosed. This has been disclosed by an official of Belarus – no immediate reason was given by the Belarusian foreign ministry.
The talks had tried to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and has left 4,700 dead. A ceasefire and framework peace deal had been announced in Minsk in September but neither of these has been properly observed.
These latest talks included Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and there had been expectations that issues that would be addressed would be the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, the exchange of prisoners and ending Ukraine's economic blockade of rebel-held areas.
A total of 4707 persons have been killed in the conflict that started in eastern Ukraine in April, and, out of that number 1357 have died since the 5 September ceasefire was agreed. It may be recalled that pro-Russian separatists had taken over the two eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March. This action has not been recognized by either Ukraine or its allies.

2014 – The year of terrorism, bloodshed and violence

#bokoharam #crimea #ISIS #PakTaliban 2014 was a year of bloodshed, terrorism and violence from Syria to Ukraine and the atrocities of the ISIS in Iraq, the Boko Haram in Nigeria and the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan.
While the civil population revolted against the authoritarian rule of its President Bashar al-Assad and the US and Russia took sides for and against President Assad, other countries were divided on which side to support. It became a daily war on the streets and loss of innocent lives with refugees spilling over to neighboring countries. Till the ISIS descended on the scene.
This was the new face of terror and its brutal methods sent shock waves throughout the world. In order to prove its intentions, it beheaded a number of American and British captives and sent across the videos. Then there were the atrocities committed on women with reports of them slaughtering the women en-masse if they refused to get converted to Islam or get married to members of the ISIS. Many women had been kept as sex slaves. As a result, the US and Europe began attacking ISIS hideouts and eliminating its leaders. The nature of bloodshed unleashed by the ISIS has no parallels in history.
The Boko-Haram in Nigeria is another dreaded terror setup - in April, it kidnapped a group of 250 schoolgirls from a school in Chibok. The girls are believed to have been kept prisoners in a jungle and, while a few of them have managed to escape, the fate of the others ae not known even after nine months. Unconfirmed reports have indicated that they might have been sold off as sex slaves. Recently, the terror group attacked a village and took away women and children as hostages after killing the men and burning down the village.
And, of course, the annexation of Crimea by Russia led to a fight with Ukraine in which Europe sided with Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Russia, it was a fight between the government forces of Ukraine against the pro-Russian supporters who had installed their own rule in Crimea and took over important towns. This fight has led to death of hundreds and thousands have been displaced from their homes.