International

Four police, five others dead in Colombia attacks

AFP

Four policemen were among nine people killed in three separate attacks blamed on Colombian armed groups that continue to sow mayhem in the country in contravention of a peace pact, authorities said Sunday.

Three off-duty police died in an attack by armed men in the northeastern town of Pailitias in which one of the officers’ pregnant wife was injured, a police statement said.

It did not identify the attackers but the ELN, Colombia’s last active guerilla group, is known to operate in the area.

In the country’s south, five men were found murdered in San Vicente del Caguan, mayor Julian Perdomo told AFP, lamenting that “frequently, peasants are being found murdered” in the countryside there.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Such attacks are blamed by authorities on dissidents who rejected a 2016 peace deal that led to the disarming of the FARC guerilla group.

A fourth policeman died in “an incursion by an armed group” in a neighborhood of the city of Cali in the southwest, according to mayor Jorge Ivan Ospina.

He did not identify the culprits but military intelligence says FARC dissidents and ELN guerillas are active around Cali, as well as paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.

Including the latest killings in San Vicente del Caguan, the Colombian observer group Indepaz says there have been 45 massacres — the killing of three or more people in a single event — so far this year.

President Ivan Duque’s government blames groups financed by drug trafficking and illegal mining.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Colombia is in the midst of its worst outbreak of violence since the peace deal that ended Latin America’s most powerful insurgency.

On Friday, a helicopter carrying Duque was attacked near the Venezuela border, with several shots — apparently from rifles — fired at it.

It was the first attack on a Colombian head of state in nearly 20 years.

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.

International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”