Wars in the World

New U.S. assessment says Iran has made “substantial and surprising” progress ” White House spokesman: “We would know if and when Iran made … a breakout move toward acquiring a weapon” ” Jerusalem downplays potential damage to Israel if it attacks Iran.

The rift between Israel and the U.S. has grown as the two countries remain at odds over the timetable for a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear program. The matter has become especially pressing with the release of a purported new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate report, presented to U.S. President Barack Obama last week, which states that Iran has made “substantial and surprising” progress and boosted its efforts to attach a nuclear warhead to ballistic missiles.

[Read more…]

Neo-paramilitary group Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles) has issued pamphlets in Colombia’s northeastern Arauca department, announcing to join the war between army and left-wing FARC and ELN guerrillas, local newspaper Notillano reported Monday.

The pamphlets, distributed Monday in parts of Arauca, said measures would be taken “to protect the region and the community” against left-wing rebel attacks.

[Read more…]

Iran declared Wednesday that it can destroy nearby U.S. military bases and strike Israel within minutes of an attack on the Islamic republic, reflecting tensions over Iran’s suspect nuclear program.

The veiled threat came during a military drill that has included the firing of ballistic missiles. The elite Revolutionary Guards, conducting the war games in Iran’s central desert, said that the missiles were aimed at mock-ups of foreign military bases.

Israel and the U.S. have hinted at the possibility of military strikes against Iran if sanctions and diplomacy do not rein in Iran’s nuclear development program. The West suspects Iran may be aiming to build nuclear weapons. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.

[Read more…]

The FARC rebel front accused of killing 12 Colombian soldiers Monday is stationed in Venezuela and moves easily between the two countries, Colombia’s minister of defense said Tuesday.

The guerrilla unit probably has been using Venezuela as “its home base for quite a while,” Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said in an interview with Caracol Radio.

The FARC, Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, allegedly ambushed the army’s First Brigade while it patrolled an area in the northern department of Guajira near the Venezuelan border. Twelve uniformed soldiers died in the attack and at least four more were wounded.

[Read more…]

Shining Path rebels on Friday killed three members of Peru’s security forces and wounded two others while they were searching for police who disappeared in an earlier ambush, the armed forces said.

It was the latest setback to the government’s push to retake a lawless bundle of jungle valleys in southeastern Peru where a remnant band of Maoist rebels runs cocaine trafficking in the world’s most densely planted region of coca plantations.

[Read more…]