Colombia authorizes air strikes against criminal gangsMay 7, 2016 - 15:53 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Colombia on Thursday, May 5 authorized the use of all military force, including air strikes, against the country's three biggest criminal gangs in a major escalation against "organized armed groups," AFP reports. Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas announced the directive late Thursday after a special session of a Senate committee in a violence-torn region of northwestern Colombia. "Directive 15 permits the application of all the force of the state, without exception, against organized armed groups or groups who have major hostile capacity," he said. Until now the military has been used only against leftist guerrilla groups, who have been negotiating an end to their half-century-old conflict. The new strategy specifically targets three major crime groups -- the Clan Usuga, Los Pelusos and Los Puntilleros. "Those three organizations from today will be pursued autonomously or in coordination by the armed forces and the police," Villegas said, speaking from the region of Apartado, a stronghold of the Clan Usuga. They have been classified as "organized armed groups" because they use camps, uniforms, long arms -- usually taken to mean weapons with longer barrels -- and have a territorial presence, he said. A government source said that besides air strikes, the state's use of force could include "air assault operations with special forces, ambushes, high precision snipers, supporting artillery fire." Related links: Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |