The US media took stock of the war conflicts all over the world in 2023.
????The Associated Press published an article entitled "The Year of War: In 2023, Russia’s attack on Ukraine continued, and the most fierce fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas". The full text is as follows:
????As in previous years, the Associated Press recorded the conflicts around the world and their harm to civilians at close range this year.
????From the Israel-Hamas war to the continuous fighting between Russia and Ukraine, 2023 has shown the danger that the armed conflict will escalate into a regional-wide fighting. But behind their long shadows, the world is facing conflicts everywhere.
????Coups and violence in various parts of Africa have disrupted life in those countries. Myanmar in Southeast Asia faces what some experts call a chronic civil war. In Central and South America, violence driven by drug trafficking continues.
????Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan remain suspicious of each other. North Korea’s nuclear arsenal continues to grow. Iran’s uranium enrichment is now closer to weapons-grade level than ever before.
????UN Secretary-General antonio guterres said: "Conflicts have become more complicated, more deadly and more difficult to solve … Concerns about the possibility of nuclear war have resurfaced. New potential conflict areas and weapons of war are creating new ways of human self-destruction. "
????Let’s look at the current situation of some major wars in the world.
????The deadliest war between Israel and Kazakhstan
????The bloodiest war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when militants broke through the wall around the seaside enclave in the Gaza Strip. Its fighters killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took more than 200 hostages back to Gaza. The attack was described as the largest one-day killing of Jews since the Holocaust, which shocked Israel. Israelis used to think that their border walls, technologically advanced military and intelligence agencies could provide them with extensive protection from the almost constant rocket attacks by militants.
????The beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been plagued by months of protests caused by his far-right government’s attempts to reform the country’s judicial system and corruption allegations, has launched a large-scale retaliatory air strike.
????The Israeli army entered the Gaza Strip for the first time in many years and launched a fierce street battle with Hamas in Gaza City. The attack killed more than 18,700 people in the Gaza Strip, and more than 2 million residents were besieged by the Israeli army, mainly because the transportation of food, fuel, water and medicine was blocked.
????The mass killings of Israelis and Palestinians have triggered protests around the world. After years of stalemate in Palestinian statehood, many people are very sympathetic to the Palestinians.
????Militia groups supported by Iran, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, opened fire on Israel. The United States sent two aircraft carriers, troops and other weapons and equipment to the region in an attempt to prevent the outbreak of a wider regional war. However, Israel has repeatedly stated its goal of destroying Hamas, which means that the risk of long-term military action will inevitably increase in the future.
????The conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues.
????The fast pace of the Israel-Hamas war eclipsed the Russian-Ukrainian conflict at the end of 2023. In the previous months, the war situation has hardly changed. Ukraine acquired tanks, weapons and western training before launching a new round of counter-offensive. It is reported that the goal of this counterattack is to reach the Sea of Azov and split the Russian front in the south. However, faced with Russian troops digging trenches, multiple defense lines, minefields and other dangers, Ukrainian troops have either made slow progress or made no progress at all. Although western countries still openly support Ukraine, many factors, including next year’s US election, may affect how much aid Kiev will receive in the future.
????Russia also faces many challenges, including the death of yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Wagner Group, a private defense contractor, in a mysterious air crash.
????African unrest
????Sudan, a big country in East Africa, has been teetering since its long-term ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown, and the country fell into civil war in April this year. The war has confronted the country’s army with a powerful paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Force, which has long been associated with atrocities in Darfur. During the fighting, the exchange of fire caused the aircraft at Khartoum International Airport to catch fire, and countries rushed to evacuate their citizens by land, sea and air. Up to now, the fighting has caused about 9000 deaths.
????At the same time, the wave of military coups sweeping across Africa in recent years continues. In Niger, a former French colony and an important uranium exporter, in July this year, soldiers overthrew the national election as president. A month later, the Gabonese army also staged a coup and overthrew the long-term ruling Gabonese president.
????Latin American drug war
????Violent activities of drug trafficking groups are rampant in some parts of Mexico, and they clash over territory and supply lines to the United States. But the conflict is not limited to there. Violence in other Central American countries, such as Honduras, has surged, and even Costa Rica, once calm, is considered as the main storage and transshipment point for transporting drugs to Europe. Coca production in Colombia has reached the highest level ever, and coca leaves are used to make cocaine.
????Deadlocks and conflicts elsewhere
????United Nations experts say that in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, since the coup overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, there has been a civil war between the rebels and the army. Two years after the Taliban overthrew the western-backed government in Kabul, Afghanistan faced an armed attack from a branch of the Islamic State organization, and girls were still banned from receiving secondary education.
????In Yemen, the Houthi rebels supported by Iran and a Saudi-led alliance fighting against them have not yet reached a permanent peace agreement, which has led militants to intensify their attacks again in recent weeks. (Compile/sha li)?