Colombian President Gustavo Petro has suspended a ceasefire with a dissident Farc rebel group in the four regions where it is most active. The suspension was triggered by the killing of four indigenous teenagers by the left-wing rebel group EMC-Farc. It comes just two months after Mr Petro put on hold a ceasefire with another of Colombia’s armed groups, the Gulf Clan. The president came to office in August of last year with the aim of achieving “total peace” in Colombia. But on Monday Mr Petro released a statement in which he questioned the EMC-Farc’s commitment to the bilateral ceasefire … Continue reading Ceasefire with dissident Farc rebels suspended by Colombia

Police in Nigeria say gunmen have attacked a US convoy, killing four people, including two personnel from the US consulate and two police officers. Three others were kidnapped before their vehicle was set on fire. The attack took place in south-eastern Anambra state. A rescue and recovery operation is under way. No US citizens were in the convoy and there were no details regarding the convoy’s presence in the state. A Nigerian state police spokesperson expressed regret that the convoy entered the state “without recourse to the police in the area or any security agency”. The US said its mission … Continue reading Four killed in attack on US convoy in Nigeria

At least one Indonesian soldier has been killed in a rebel attack while searching for a kidnapped New Zealand pilot in the Papua region, officials say. Rebels later claimed nine soldiers were shot dead in the clash, while the Associated Press cited military sources that put the death toll at six. The troops were part of a detachment sent to locate Philip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage in February. Papua rebels have been seeking independence from Jakarta for decades. The Indonesian troops were attacked on Sunday while searching for Mr Mehrtens near a separatist stronghold in the mountainous Nduga district, the … Continue reading Update: One soldier killed in rescue bid for kidnapped New Zealand pilot in Papua

The Pakistani army says “terrorists” operating from Iran have killed four of its border patrol troops in the south-western province of Balochistan. An army statement said officials were talking to their Iranian counterparts to prevent such incidents in future. The attack happened in Kech district. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Separatists in Balochistan have been fighting the government for decades. The province has a long, porous border. Reports said the insurgents had taken the weapons of the four dead soldiers. The army statement included photos of the four: a corporal, a lance-corporal and two privates. Last month … Continue reading Four Pakistan border guards killed by militants near Iran

France has agreed to a request from Burkina Faso’s military leaders to withdraw all its troops from the country. Burkina Faso, which is currently battling an Islamist insurgency, says it wants to defend itself. There are currently 400 French special forces in Burkina Faso, who have just one month to leave. On Thursday, France said it would also recall its ambassador to the country for consultations. Burkina Faso’s junta had demanded the ambassador’s replacement over his comments about the country’s deteriorating security situation. Last year French troops also left neighbouring Mali, where they had spent eight years fighting jihadists. France … Continue reading France agrees to pull its troops out of Burkina Faso

The leader of a small but violent left-wing rebel group which has been terrorising rural communities in Paraguay has been killed in a clash with soldiers, officials say. Osvaldo Villalba was the leader of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), which has carried out a string of killings and kidnappings in Paraguay. Among those being held by the EPP is the country’s former Vice-President, Óscar Denis. He was kidnapped in September 2020. Army officials told reporters that soldiers had come across the rebels on Sunday after they heard gunshots while on patrol in Amambay province. When they arrived at the scene … Continue reading Paraguay rebel leader Villalba killed in clash with army

The Nigerian army says it has found two more of the female students abducted by Boko Haram militants from a secondary school more than eight years ago. There was global outrage when Islamists seized nearly 300 girls in Nigeria’s north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014. Most of the victims have either been freed or escaped since then, but dozens remain unaccounted for. It appears the two hostages gave birth while in captivity, as the army said they were both found with children. One of the abductees was seen with a child, the other with two children. Other victims of the … Continue reading Two victims of Chibok kidnapping in Nigeria found eight years later

The Colombian Army confirmed Sunday the death of at least ten suspected FARC dissident leaders in Caqueta, in southwestern Colombia. In the operation by the country’s armed forces, deployed in the rural area bordering Caqueta and Guaviare, ten dissidents of the FARC’s First Front were killed, according to Colombian radio station Caracol. The bodies of the deceased dissidents are being identified at Colombia’s National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. The agents have also seized two long-range weapons, six short-range weapons, ammunition and grenades. They also found two geopositioners, a radio base, a drone, two computers and seven cell … Continue reading Ten FARC dissidents killed in Colombian Army operation

A view of the crater and cordoned area near a damaged passenger van, a day after a suicide blast, at the entrance of the Confucius Institute University of Karachi Pakistan on Tuesday said it had arrested a militant who provided technical support for a deadly suicide bomb attack on Chinese teachers at Karachi University in April. A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers, drawing strong condemnation from Beijing, in the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan. Four people died in total, including the minibus driver and the three Chinese staff … Continue reading Pakistan arrest suspect in deadly bombing of Chinese nationals

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an explosion that it said killed or injured 30 people at a market where alcohol was sold in Taraba State, Nigeria, marking an expansion of the area where the extremist group operates in the country. Northeast Nigeria, especially the states of Borno and Yobe, have been in the grip of Islamist insurgencies for over a decade, but Taraba, located at the eastern end of Nigeria’s Middle Belt central region, has not previously been attacked. The explosion took place on Tuesday in Iware, a rural town, and local police initially said three people were killed and … Continue reading Islamic State claims Nigeria bombing, says about 30 killed or hurt

Gunmen killed 15 Nigerian soldiers and wounded more than a dozen others during an attack on an army base in the northern state of Kaduna, two army sources said on Tuesday, in the latest attack on security forces by armed gangs.Nigerian Army soldiers are seen driving on a military vehicle in Nigeria. The gangs, designated as terrorists by the government, have caused havoc in northwest Nigeria by attacking villages, towns and schools and kidnapping hundreds of students. An army officer at the military base in the town of Birnin Gwari in Kaduna told Reuters that gunmen on motorbikes used rocket-propelled … Continue reading Gunmen kill 15 Nigerian soldiers in attack on military base

Gunmen have killed 19 security personnel, including 13 soldiers, in an assault in the northwest Nigerian state of Kebbi, a security source and residents said Wednesday. The battle erupted late Tuesday in Kanya, a village in Danko-Wasagu district, just a day after dozens of members of a self-defence militia were killed in the same area. At least 57 vigilantes were killed in nearby Sakaba on Monday in an ambush by heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits. Hundreds of gunmen invaded Kanya, engaging a combined military and police detachment in a three-hour gun fight, the source and residents said. … Continue reading Gunmen in northwest Nigeria kill 19 security personnel