Troops repel terrorist attacks in Sokoto, Katsina

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA have repelled terrorists’ attacks in Sokoto and Katsina States, the Defence Headquarters has said.

Zagazola understands that the troops responded to reports of terrorist activities in Dundaye village, Augie Local Government Area of Sokoto State on Aug. 29.

Sources said that the terrorists killed two locals and rustled an unspecified number of cattle before fleeing the scene ahead of troops’ arrival.

“Troops immediately pursued the terrorists but no contact was made,”said the sources.

The sources added that at about 10:50 p.m. on the same day, troops of 17 Brigade deployed at Forward Operating Base Malumfashi, Katsina State, encountered terrorists at Maraban Kankara, Malumfashi Local Government Area.

“The troops engaged the terrorists in a firefight, forcing them to flee. Locals later reported that two women were abducted from the village during the attack,” said the sources.

The sources further noted that operations across other sectors of the Joint Operations Area remained calm with no significant incidents reported.

Troops repel terrorist attacks in Sokoto, Katsina

12 dead, 20 rescued in Zamfara canoe mishap while fleeing bandits

By: Zagazola Makama

The Zamfara Police Command has confirmed the death of 12 persons in a canoe mishap in Gummi Local Government Area of the state.

Sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred on Friday evening at Danmaga village in Gummi.

According to the sources, residents sighted a group of armed bandits moving with rustled animals toward Birnin Magaji district of the area, forcing some women and children to hurriedly board a canoe to cross a river in a bid to escape.

“In the process, the canoe capsized, leading to the death of 12 victims, while more than 20 persons were rescued alive,” the sources said.

The sources said security operatives, in collaboration with local divers, recovered the bodies which were deposited for burial according to Islamic rites.

The sources added that search efforts were still ongoing to recover possible remaining victims of the incident.

12 dead, 20 rescued in Zamfara canoe mishap while fleeing bandits

Cuban Government: US Military Deployment in the Caribbean Sea Threatens the Region Under Absurd Pretexts

By: Michael Mike

The Cuban Government has rejected the current deployment of United States military forces in the Caribbean Sea, stating that this action represents a serious threat and an aggressive show of force against the sovereignty and self-determination of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Cuba further said this action ignores the commitment of the 33 Member States of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States when they proclaimed the region as a Zone of Peace.

A statement by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs made available at the weekend to our correspondent, said the US claims associating the legitimate government of Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro with criminal organisations involved in illegal drug trafficking is an absurd pretext that is unfounded.

It alleged that leaders in Washington are irresponsibly disregarding the assessment of their own Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that, in its report this year, does not mention the Venezuelan Government among the authors or enablers of drug trafficking operations threatening the United States territory.

The statement further read: “The Government of the United States resorts to lies once again to justify violence and plunder. They use them in the renewed implementation of the dominance scheme based on the Monroe Doctrine, key to their interventionism in the American continent.

“On the basis of similar fallacies, they have carried out ruthless aggressions resulting in considerable and protracted human costs. An example from recent decades was the charade about the alleged presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This pretext served to attack and invade a sovereign country, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of its citizens and the forced displacement of a similar figure.”

It alleged that: “The United States is the largest market of narcotic drugs in the region and possibly the world, according to the World Drug Report 2025, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. This fact is well-known and the international community must denounce it. It is in the US where the largest networks are located, encouraging consumption, guaranteeing distribution, facilitating traffic, collection and accumulation of the large proceeds. Such networks launder the resulting drug money within the country’s own economy with relative impunity, without serious and effective efforts being made by the government to stop it.

“The immense proceeds from the illegal US market encourage the emergence and operation of drug trafficking networks in Latin America and the Caribbean. That country’s powerful arms industry and its uncontrolled privileges for commercialization feed the deadly power of the region’s criminal organisations. Neglect and failure to act on the root causes of the phenomenon within the United States will only intensify the regional impact of this scourge.

Cuba reiterated its firm commitment with the honest and effective fight against illegal trafficking in drugs, the defense of the national sovereignty and the promotion of peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It also denounced in equally strong terms the use of irregular migration flows as an excuse to turn the waters of the Caribbean Sea into a war zone. No one with minimum common sense and honesty believe that the quantity of the troops, the combat materiel, naval forces, including nuclear submarines, and the firepower that the United States has sought to deploy in this peaceful area of the world, is the appropriate manner to fight organized crime, illicit drug trafficking or irregular migration flows, nor that such deployment is truly pursuing its stated goals.

The statement added that: “Cuba reiterates the call made by President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez, at the 13th Extraordinary Summit of ALBA-TCP, last 20 August, to firmly denounce the new imperialist shows of force.”
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