• Afghans united in anger against Pakistan

    Noorullah Shirzada / AFP - Getty Images

    Afghanistan border policemen take their positions on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Goshta district of Nangarhar province on May 7, 2013.

    By Atia Abawi and Fazal Ahad, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- Tensions along the volatile border between Afghanistan and Pakistan have plunged relations between the two U.S. allies to their lowest level in years just before Pakistan’s general election.

    Last week, Afghans accused their neighbor of trespassing on their sovereignty by building military checkpoints in the Goshta district of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarahar province. 

    Afghan military officials said they waited for a diplomatic resolution that never came -- resulting in clashes between Afghan and Pakistani military forces. One Afghan border police officer was killed in the fighting last week.

    The clashes have sparked an outcry by the Afghan people as thousands have taken to the streets throughout the country protesting the alleged Pakistani breach with chants of “Death to Pakistan.”  The crowds have hailed the dead border police officer as a martyr. 

    “The protection of this land is the duty of every single Afghan,” Sayed Agha Sakhizada, a protester in Laghman province said. “For me, the protection of my land and my religion is the same. I will stand alongside my security forces to fight against these violations on my land and even sacrifice myself for this holy fight to protect my country.”

    Rahmat Gul / AP

    Afghans chant slogans against Pakistan during a demonstration in Kochkin area on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, May 6, 2013.

    The clashes have done something for the Afghan military that years of fighting the Taliban couldn’t do – they have garnered profound support of the Afghan National Security Forces from the general public.

    “We are happy that the people of Afghanistan are standing in support of Afghan security forces. This raises the moral of our forces,” said Cmdr. Mohammad Ayoub Husain Khil, acting commander of the border police in Goshta.

    “We are satisfied with the support of our people and will defend this soil and the people of this soil till the last breath of our lives.”

    Contentious border: Durand Line
    President Hamid Karzai pointed the finger at the Pakistanis during a press conference last Saturday. He accused them of trying to strong-arm the Afghans into accepting the Durand Line -- a contentious border between the two nations that was set by the British and an Afghan king in 1893 but was set to expire 100 years later. Afghans have always wanted the land back and Pakistanis say it is part of their country now.

    Karzai said the Pakistanis are trying “to force Afghans to start negotiations on the Durand Line and accept the Durand Line as an international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. But they will never succeed to achieve any of these motives. The people of Afghanistan have never accepted the Durand Line since it was created by the British.”

    Meantime, the dispute is making for some unusual bedfellows.

    According to local officials and community leaders in Kunar, the Taliban have sent them messages saying they are ready to fight against the Pakistani forces and push them back into their land. 

    The Taliban’s message said: “We have always defended Islam and our country. And even if today foreigners are attacking Afghanistan, we are ready to fight them back.”

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  • Violent clashes break out in Cairo over call for judiciary reform

    Mohamed El-shahed / AFP - Getty Images

    Muslim Brotherhood supporters throw stones towards opponents during clashes on April 19, in central Cairo.

    Khaled Elfiqi / EPA

    Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members throw stones towards members of the anti-muslim brotherhood (top) during clashes in central Cairo, April 19.

    Mostafa Elshemy / AP

    Egyptian protesters clash near a bus belonging to Muslim Brotherhood supporters burns after it was reportedly set alight by anti- government protesters in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, April 19.

    Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

    Muslim Brotherhood members hit an anti-government protester during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square, April 19.

    Clashes erupted Friday between several hundred opponents and supporters of Egypt’s Islamist president during a rally by his allies calling on him to “cleanse the judiciary” of alleged supporters of the old regime. Four people were hurt the violent clashes following a call by the Muslim Brotherhood to demonstrate outside the Supreme Court. 

     

  • Dozens injured in Egypt clashes as police fire tear gas at Morsi supporters and opponents

    Clashes broke out Friday in Alexandria ahead of Saturday's final round of voting on the country's controversial draft constitution. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — Supporters of President Mohammed Morsi and his opponents hurled rocks at each other in Egypt's second city on the eve of a final vote on a new constitution shaped by Islamists.

    Police fired tear gas as scores of opponents of the constitution and thousands of Islamists hurled rocks across a security cordon separating them near a mosque in Alexandria that was the focus for violence last week.


    "God is great," Islamists chanted when the clash began.

    The Egyptian Ministry of Health said at least 55 people were injured in the clashes near the al-Qaid Ibrahim mosque in Alexandria, state media reported.

    The Islamists had gathered in support of an Islamic vision of Egypt's future a day before a second round of voting in a referendum on the basic law. Opposition supporters had also turned out as worshipers assembled for Friday prayers.

    Morsi and his Islamist allies back the draft constitution as a vital step in Egypt's transition to democracy almost two years after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

    The opposition says the draft, drawn up by an Islamist-dominated assembly, is a recipe for deepening divisions and more violence.

    The Muslim Brotherhood called for the mass gathering in Alexandria to protest after a violent confrontation between Islamists and the liberal, secular opposition last week ended with a Muslim preacher besieged inside his mosque for 14 hours.

    Rival factions had used clubs, knives and swords last week, but this time police kept the feuding sides apart, although witnesses saw several protesters and one police officer being helped away. Some protesters had head wounds.

    The run-up to the final round of voting Saturday on a new constitution has been marked by often violent protests that have cost at least eight lives. The first round on Dec. 15 produced a yes vote that is expected to be repeated in the second round.

    Lines of riot police cordoned off Alexandria's al-Qaid Ibrahim mosque, scene of last week's violence. Islamists chanted pro-Islamic slogans while a smaller group of opponents gathered nearby, chanting against Morsi, propelled to power in a June election by the Muslim Brotherhood.

    Analysis: Egypt is rapidly approaching its own 'cliff'

    "The people want the implementation of Shariah," the Islamist sympathizers shouted, in a show of support for Islamic law. "Our souls and blood, we sacrifice to Islam," they shouted.

    In one incident, an Islamist filming anti-Morsi protesters was grabbed and roughed up. Islamists on the other side of a security cordon pushed and shoved police trying to reach him.

    The opposition, facing defeat in the referendum, has called for a no vote against a document it says is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and minorities, including the 10 percent of Egyptians who are Christian.

    AP

    Opponents of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi clash with Islamist supporters of the president,as a cordon of riot police separates the groups in Alexandria, Egypt, on Friday.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • Guatemalans grieve deaths of six after protests

    Moises Castillo / AP

    Pallbearers carry the coffin of a victim who died in clashes with security forces, through the town square of Totonicapan, Guatemala, Oct. 5, 2012.

    Associated Press reports — Thousands of grieving indigenous Guatemalans shouted in anger Friday, some of them hurling themselves at the coffins of six local people slain when gunfire erupted during a protest over electrical power prices and educational reform in a poor rural area west of the capital.

    The Guatemala government said protesters were blockading a highway near the town of Totonicapan, about 90 miles west of Guatemala City, when unidentified people opened fire from the back of a truck with civilian license plates, killing six people and wounding 34. Local activists accused soldiers and police of opening fire on the protesters.

    The six victims were buried Friday afternoon in Totonicapan, where thousands gathered to watch their coffins pass through the town’s central square. Hundreds shouted “Justice! Justice!” while dozens of mourners from the Cakchiquel hurled themselves toward the coffins in grief.

    Thursday’s protest was fueled by anger at President Otto Perez Molina, who has proposed constitutional reforms that he says will modernize Guatemala’s economic and regulatory systems.

    See more images of Guatemala on PhotoBlog

    Moises Castillo / AP

    Relatives mourn in front of the casket holding Francisco Ordonez during a mass funeral service in Totonicapan, Guatemala, Oct. 5, 2012. Ordonez is one of at least six people slain when gunfire erupted Thursday during a protest over electrical power prices and educational reform in a poor rural area west of the capital.

    Saul Martínez / EPA

    A man photographs a burned truck after the clashes where six peasants were killed on Thursday, when soldiers and police suppressed a peaceful demonstration in Totonicapan, Guatemala, Oct. 5.

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  • Clashes over Syrian conflict in Lebanon leave ten dead

    Adel Karroum / EPA

    Salafist Sunni Muslim gunmen take cover during a shoot out in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Aug. 22.

    AFP - Getty Images

    A Lebanese man looks at a hole on a building following a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) strike in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Aug. 22.

    Hussein Malla / AP

    Lebanese army soldiers in a armored personnel carrier pass Syria street, which divides areas between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Aug. 22.

    Renewed clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad have left ten people dead and at least 75 wounded in fighting in northern Lebanon between two Muslim communities divided over Syria, testing Lebanon's fragile security situation.  Full story.

    More photos from Lebanon on PhotoBlog

    Slideshow: Syria uprising

    At least nine people die as Sunni Muslims and Alawites fight for a second day. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.

  • Ernesto Benavides / AFP - Getty Images

    Peruvian police block the way for people carrying coffins of three demonstrators who died during protests against the Conga mining project in Celendin, Cajamarca, Peru on July 6, 2012. The death toll from clashes between security forces and demonstrators fighting a planned $4.8 billion gold mine by U.S.-based Newmont in northern Peru has climbed to five, medical officials said.

    Clashes over mining project lead to deaths in Peru

    .

  • Bangladesh reportedly closes border to refugees from Myanmar violence

    Andrew Biraj / Reuters

    Rohingyas from Myanmar sit on a jetty by the river Naf after being arrested by Border Guards of Bangladesh while trying to get into the country on Monday.

    By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

    Refugees from violence in Myanmar are reportedly being prevented from crossing the border into Bangladesh, according to a leading medical charity.

    Médecins Sans Frontières – or Doctors Without Borders – said in a statement on its website that it was also “extremely concerned” that victims of recent clashes in Rakhine state are not receiving treatment.

    It said it had been forced to suspend its work there because of the fighting that began on June 9.

    Fighting breaks out between Muslim and Buddhist groups in Myanmar


    “MSF is extremely worried that victims of the clashes are not receiving emergency care, and about the ongoing healthcare needs of our patients,” Joe Belliveau, MSF operations manager, said in the statement.

    “Our immediate concerns are to provide emergency medical services, get food and supplies to people, and get our HIV patients their lifesaving treatment,” he added.

    Muslims flee burning homes during sectarian violence in Myanmar

    “People seeking refuge and in need of food, water and medical care should be allowed to cross the border,” Belliveau said.  “In both Myanmar and Bangladesh, MSF is trying to reach those affected by the violence, but they should also be allowed to reach us.”

    Suu Kyi: Nobel Prize 'made me real once again'

    MSF said it had been providing medical services in Rakhine for 20 years, focusing on maternal health and infectious diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. 

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