War

Civilian casualties of the war in Afghanistan rose to record levels for the seventh year in row in 2015, as violence spread across the country in the wake of the withdrawal of most international troops, the United Nations reported on Feb. 14.

Justice Minister pledges to send a protest to the Hague-based war crimes court after the ICTY slammed Belgrade for not arresting three Radical Party members.

Moscow on Feb. 10 warned that Washington's deployment of a US missile defense system to South Korea could spark an arms race in the region.

South Korean and US defense officials said last week they would begin formal talks on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) system in response to North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests.    

The Serbian justice ministry has finalised its first war crimes strategy, expected to be adopted in the first half of 2016, promising to punish perpetrators while improving witness protection and transparency.

A powerful suicide car bomb struck near the Russian embassy in downtown Kabul Jan. 20, with casualties feared from the latest attack in the Afghan capital, the interior ministry said.

Former Bosnian Army Third Corps commander Sakib Mahmuljin was arrested on suspicion of failing to prevent Islamic volunteer fighters committing war crimes against Serb civilians and prisoners of war in 1995.

Bosnia's state prosecution has charged 509 persons with war crimes over the past ten years, 235 of whom were indicted in the last two-and-a-half years, it said in a statement.

Croatia on Wednesday deployed demining teams to the border area near Serbia as refugees started entering that country on foot, avoiding border crossings.

"Police have contacted us and we sent a team to the border area in eastern Croatia," an official at the Croatian Demining Center told Reuters, "asking not to be named," the agency said.

After a nine-month delay, the Bosnian Council of Ministers has adopted a justice sector reform strategy, which should unblock European funds needed for war crimes investigations and prosecutions.

During the night and morning on Wednesday more than 2,000 people from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries arrived in Presevo, southern Serbia.

The Red Cross is providing assistance to them, with local official Ahmet Halimi telling Tanjug there has been "a dramatic increase in influx of migrants" since last night.