Globetrotting

30 dead in Colombian massacreBOGOTA: Right-wing gunmen killed nearly 30 people and left hundreds homeless after going on a bloody rampage in...

30 dead in Colombian massacre

BOGOTA: Right-wing gunmen killed nearly 30 people and left hundreds homeless after going on a bloody rampage in a remote corner of Colombia’s northwest jungle, a local indigenous leader said. Gerardo Jumi, head of the Medellin-based indigenous organisation of Antioquia, said on Wednesday, his account was based on eye-witness testimony from a tribal leader in Murindo. The tribal leader, who asked to remain anonymous fearing for his life, was sent to Medellin by fellow tribesmen to denounce the massacre, which occurred late last month, Jumi said.

He said that the tribal leader reported that between 26 and 29 peasants, including one Indian, were killed while 10 Indians were also reported missing. He added, about 500 people were left homeless by the gunmen, suspected members of a ultra-rightist paramilitary group known as Peasant Self-Defence Force of Cordoba and Uraba.

Ethiopia-Eritrea border fights

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia accused Eritrean forces of launching anattack on Thursday along their border. It said the fighting occurred near the Eritrean port of Assab, a new escalation of the neighbour’s undeclared war over their ill-defined border. Both armies have massed troops and armour in the area in recent weeks. The two armies were squared off across across a six-kilometre stretch of no-man’s land near the Burie town on Monday, a foreign observer said. Assab was Ethiopia’s main port before it lost its Red Sea coast with Eritrea’s independence in 1993.