51.   Large-scale fighting has mostly ended in the small separatist republic, but rebel attacks continue to bleed Russian troops daily and sap military morale.

52.   Large-scale fighting ended in the small southern republic some two years ago, but rebels use small skirmishes and ambushes to bleed federal forces daily.

53.   Many Afghans in the Shomali Plain said their lives have improved since the fighting ended, but making ends meet is no easier.

54.   Let the fighting end.

55.   Major fighting in Kosovo ended in October when Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic accepted a U.S.-brokered agreement which halted a seven-month offensive and averted NATO airstrikes.

56.   Maskhadov was a leading rebel commander during the war, but he has been unable to bring law-and-order to the southern territory since the fighting ended two years ago.

57.   Nine truckloads of militiamen left Dili after the fighting ended.

58.   Occasional gunfire could still be heard late Thursday evening, but it was unclear whether the fighting had ended.

59.   Oshima said it was possible that aid would flow even before the fighting ended.

60.   Ouattara remained in touch by phone with the rebels until the fighting ended.