Terrorism Watch

A court in Colombia is exposing atrocities in the country’s long civil war, trying to compile a record all sides can accept, and offering leniency to those who confess. Not everyone is pleased. Credit...Federico Rios for The New York Times March 6, 2021 BOGOTÁ, Colombia — The testimony is searing. “They tied me to a tree,” said one victim of Colombia’s guerrillas. “They put us in a cage,” said another. “I was kidnapped for four years.” “Until then, I had not heard of ‘mass graves,’” said a victim of the military. “Finally I understand that those in charge of protecting civilians killed thousands of Colombians.” After decades of civil war, Colombia has created a historic postwar court designed to reveal the facts of a conflict that defined the nation for generations, morphing into the longest-running war in the Americas. Thousands have testified. Wide-ranging investigations are underway. The first indictments were issued in January — and the first pleas are expected in Apr

  People assist an injured person outside Madina Hospital after a blast Luul Yemeni restaurant near the port in Mogadishu, Somalia | Reuters At least 20 people were killed by a suicide car bomb in Mogadishu on Friday evening. 30 were injured as a result of the blast. “ A speeding car exploded at Luul Yemeni restaurant. I was going to the restaurant but ran back when the blast shook and covered the area with smoke,” resident Ahmed Abdullahi, a resident told Reuters. The blast occurred outside a restaurant  The area of the blast has been cordoned off. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, which caused one building near the restaurant to collapse. Local group armed group al-Shabab linked to the Al-Qaeda has been blamed for the attack by local police spokesperson Sadiq Ali Adan. Al-Shabab has carried out several such bombings. The group have been waging an insurgency against the Horn of African country’s central government and establish a government based on its s

 Nairobi, March 4, 2021 — Authorities in the Somali semi-autonomous region of Puntland should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Farah Adan and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In the evening of March 1, two unidentified men shot and killed Jamal outside a shop he ran in the northern part of the city of Galkayo, according to media reports and separate statements published by two local press rights groups, the Media Association of Puntland and the Mogadishu-based Somali Journalists Syndicate . On his Facebook account, where he posted political commentary and reporting, Jamal had previously said that he received threats from the Al-Shabaab militant group. After the killing, Al-Shabaab announced on its radio station, Radio Andalus, that it had killed Jamal for opposing the group, according to news reports and a recording of that broadcast, which CPJ reviewed. In a statement p

  Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday presided over a ceremony to destroy more than 1,000 guns and other weapons seized over the years from Basque separatist group ETA, which disbanded in 2018. A steamroller slowly drove over three rows of weapons laid out in the courtyard of a Guardia Civil police barracks south of Madrid, watched by representatives of terrorism victim associations and law enforcement agencies which fought against the group. "We have just witnessed an act of great symbolism in that long fight against terrorism that was so painful for our country," the Socialist premier said. "We will not be able to recover the lives that were lost, nor will we be able to erase the dark past as we have now destroyed these weapons, but we can fight against forgetfulness and repair the pain and honour" of the victims, he added. Ninety percent of the nearly 1,400 weapons were seized from ETA between 1977 and 2005 and the remaining 10 percent

 NEW DELHI: Cyber attacks by RedEcho, the actor group with China links, on India’s power infrastructure have been more widespread than previously known and the intrusive infrastructure remains active even after military de-escalation in Ladakh’s Pangong area.  According to Christopher Ahlberg, CEO of Recorded Future, the Massachusetts-based enterprise security outfit that detected the intrusions, 10 Indian power sector assets and the Mumbai and Tamil Nadu’s VO Chidmabaranar ports came under attack. The power assets that came under attack were Delhi state load despatch centre, DTL Tikri Kalan substation in Delhi; Mumbai Port Trust, western regional load despatch centre In Maharashtra, NTPC's Kudgi power plant and southern regional load despatch centre in Karnataka, VO Chidambarnar port in Tamil Nadu, Telengana load despatch centre, eastern regional load despatch centre in West Bengal load despatch centre and northeastern regional load despatch centre in Assam. "R

 Youths were present, the defense minister said, calling them “machines of war,” but he would not give the ages of the dead. Reports that minors were killed outraged a war-weary public. Credit...Federico Rios for The New York Times March 10, 2021 BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombia’s defense minister said Wednesday that several young people were at a rebel camp recently attacked by the military, but would not confirm reports that children were among those killed, an allegation that fueled deep outrage in a nation reeling from decades of war. In an interview on W Radio, the minister, Diego Molano, said that “young combatants,” who had been recruited and transformed into “machines of war” by criminal actors, were present at a military operation meant to target a violent armed group. But he declined repeatedly to reveal the ages of the dead, amid reports from local officials and news outlets that one or more of those killed were minors, including a 9-year-old girl. In the interview,

  Colombia’s   ELN   guerrillas are struggling to maintain a recent territorial expansion, according to a think tank. In its latest report on the rebel group, think tank Indepaz said that the guerrillas have been able to expand their presence in the countryside, but lack stability to consolidate control. On a national level, the instability of the guerrilla organization is largely due to an absence of a national expansion strategy, difficulties in the recruitment of new members and a shortage in mid-level commanders, according to Indepaz. Regional expansion and difficulties Through alliances with regionally active armed groups, the ELN has been able to grow its territorial reach in the center and east of the country, but without the ability to impose guerrilla rule. This has allowed the guerrillas to maintain a permanent presence in 136 of Colombia’s approximately 1,100 municipalities and and increase in temporary or transitory presence from 14 in 2018 to 71 in the first half of 2020.

  BOGOTA (AFP) – A military bombing killed 10 guerrillas and injured three at a base of dissidents of the former FARC rebel group in southeast Colombia, official sources said on Tuesday. Defence Minister Diego Molano said on Twitter the military action “neutralised” 13 FARC dissidents under the command of a man who goes by the alias “Gentil Duarte”. These dissidents have distanced themselves from Colombia’s 2016 peace pact, which ended a half-century civil war and saw the FARC disarm the following year. Molano did not say when the assault happened. A source told  AFP  10 died and three were wounded. The bombing was conducted in the municipal area of Calamar in the jungle of southeastern Colombia, where former FARC dissidents still operate. “These narco-criminals are responsible for the recruitment of minors, attacks against our public forces, kidnapping and illegal mining,” said Molano. He added the government will “not rest” until it finds Duarte, one of the most wanted rebel commande

 A military bombing killed 10 guerrillas and injured three at a base of dissidents of the former FARC rebel group in southeast Colombia, official sources said Tuesday. Defence Minister Diego Molano said on Twitter the military action "neutralised" 13 FARC dissidents under the command of a man who goes by the alias "Gentil Duarte." These dissidents have distanced themselves from Colombia 's 2016 peace pact, which ended a half-century civil war and saw the FARC disarm the following year. Molano did not say when the assault happened. A source told AFP 10 died and three were wounded. The bombing was conducted in the municipal area of Calamar in the jungle of northern Colombia, where former FARC dissidents still operate. "These narco-criminals are responsible for the recruitment of minors, attacks against our public forces, kidnapping and illegal mining

  Colombia’s war crimes tribunal ordered the government to take urgent measures to curb the mass killing of demobilized   FARC   guerrillas. In a press release, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) said Tuesday that “the efforts of the National Government and other State entities are not enough to prevent new assassinations.” According to the JEP, more than 250 former FARC fighters have been assassinated since the now-defunct guerrilla group signed a peace deal with the government of former President  Juan Manuel Santos  in 2016. The court said that it had ordered the Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry, President  Ivan Duque ‘s peace commissioner, the prosecution and other state entities to take urgent measures. The JEP found that the Ombudsman’s Office has not created a unit that in a general manner coordinates issues to guarantee the rights of former fighters. There is a low level of compliance with the recommendations made by this entity to the Ministry of the Interior, but

The freed schoolgirls were taken to a government building in Zamfara state in a fleet of minibuses Girls among the nearly 300 who were kidnapped from a school in north-western Nigeria have been describing their ordeal following their release. "Most of us got injured," one of the schoolgirls told the BBC, adding that gunmen threatened to shoot them. The girls were abducted by unidentified assailants from their boarding school in Jangebe, Zamfara state, on Friday and taken to a forest, police said. The state's governor said on Tuesday that the 279 girls had been freed. Such kidnappings are carried out for ransom and are common in the north of the country. Why schoolchildren are being abducted in Nigeria On Tuesday, dozens of the girls were seen gathered at a government building in Zamfara after they were taken there in a fleet of mini-buses. Speaking to the BBC, one of the schoolgirls said that some of those kidnapped had found it difficult to continue walki

  New York (CNN Business)  —  An Amazon employee filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the tech giant of deliberately paying her and other Black employees less than their White counterparts, becoming the latest on a growing list of current and former Amazon workers to accuse the company of systemic racism. Amazon said it was investigating the allegations in the lawsuit. "Amazon works hard to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, and these allegations do not reflect those efforts or our values," a spokesperson said. "We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and thoroughly investigate all claims and take appropriate action." In her complaint, Charlotte Newman, a 38-year-old Black woman who lives in Washington DC, said Amazon Web Services hired her four years ago to work as a public policy manager   even though she had applied for and said she was qualified to work as a higher-level senior manager, a practice Newman suggests is routine. "

  The UNPO has observed that State actors are increasingly resorting to concepts of 'national unity' to justify repressive actions against minorities, indigenous populations and self-determination movements. This includes reference to constitutional provisions which place national unity on equal or greater footing to human rights. Such justifications are increasingly being used not only by the States enacting repressive measures, but also by other States in their justifications for not taking strong action against that repression. The UNPO calls on all States to fully respect, in both their national and foreign affairs, the rights to equal self-determination of peoples and the responsibility of all States to promote inclusion and respect diversity. Over the 30 years of the UNPO’s history, we have observed that true peace and stability can only be achieved through inclusive societies that respect ethnic and religious diversity and equal rights to  self-determination  of all peop

(Bamako) – Heads of state gathering in Chad should commit to protecting the rights of civilians and detainees and investigating alleged abuses during counterterrorism operations in the Sahel region, Human Rights Watch said today. The summit planned for the Chadian capital of N’Djamena on February 15 and 16, 2021, will  assess the progress  of the international coalition formed to combat the spread of Islamist armed groups in the Sahel. Since late 2019 Human Rights Watch, the  United Nations , and others have documented over 600 unlawful killings by the security forces of  Burkina Faso ,  Mali , and  Niger  during counterterrorism operations. Promised investigations into these and numerous other alleged abuses have failed to deliver justice to victims and their families. Islamist armed groups allied to both Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have also committed widespread atrocities, including the alleged killings in January 2021 of over  100 villagers in Niger , at least  32 villagers  in