BOGOTA: Colombia’s most-wanted guerrilla leader Ivan Mordisco threatened to disrupt the country’s 2026 presidential election, in a video released on Tuesday, in response to deadly military strikes against his armed group.
The military operations were part of President Gustavo Petro’s intensifying attacks against groups involved in cocaine trafficking, following fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump over his alleged inaction on drug production.
Mordisco, the leader of a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrillas, said the strikes that have killed dozens were a “declaration of war.”
In the video, Mordisco warned of repercussions for next year’s election, which will determine the successor to the country’s left-wing president who is constitutionally barred from running again.
“We wanted the 2026 electoral process to be as smooth as possible, but given the advance of warmongering actors, we have no choice but to take a stand,” he said.
Authorities have confirmed military strikes have claimed the lives of 15 minors since August, sparking public outrage.
The teenagers had been abducted by the same armed groups in the soldiers’ crosshairs.
Petro’s policies were “pandering to the gringos, who are thirsty for the blood of Colombian children,” Mordisco said, referring to Americans.
The president has launched a manhunt with a million-dollar reward to capture Mordisco, whom he likens to cocaine baron Pablo Escobar who was slain in 1993.
Mordisco leads a dissident faction that rejected the 2016 peace agreement that led to the disarmament of the former FARC. His group controls cocaine production in several regions of the country.
The lead-up to Colombia’s 2026 election has already been marred by violence, with candidate and opposition senator Miguel Uribe shot while campaigning in June. He died in hospital in August and police blamed the shooting on guerrillas.
Colombia’s top guerrilla leader threatens vote disruption
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Colombia’s top guerrilla leader threatens vote disruption
- The president has launched a manhunt with a million-dollar reward to capture Mordisco, whom he likens to cocaine baron Pablo Escobar who was slain in 1993
Cross-border clash breaks out between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid rising tensions
- Border residents say exchange of fire in the Chaman border sector lasted nearly two hours
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan witnessed yet another border clash, according to officials in both countries who spoke in the early hours of Saturday, with each side accusing the other of launching “unprovoked” attacks.
Fighting erupted in Pakistan’s southwestern Chaman border sector, with an AFP report saying that residents on the Afghan side of the frontier reported the exchange of fire began at around 10:30 p.m. (1800 GMT) and continued for roughly two hours.
The incident underscored how tensions remain high between the neighbors, who have seen deadly clashes in recent months despite several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar and Türkiye that resulted in a tenuous truce in October.
“There has been unprovoked firing by Afghan Taliban elements in the Chaman Sector which is a reckless act that undermines border stability and regional peace,” said a Pakistani security official on condition of anonymity.
“Pakistani troops responded with precision, reinforcing that any violation of our territorial integrity will be met with immediate and decisive action,” he continued.
The official described Pakistan’s response as “proportionate and calibrated” that showed “professionalism even in the face of aggression.”
“The Chaman Sector exchange once again highlights the need for Kabul to rein in undisciplined border elements whose actions are destabilizing Afghanistan’s own international standing,” he added.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have grown increasingly bitter since the Taliban seized power in Kabul following the withdrawal of international forces in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration of sheltering anti-Pakistan militant groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have carried out deadly attacks in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan, targeting civilians and security forces.
The Taliban deny the charge, saying Pakistan’s internal security challenges are its own responsibility.
The Pakistani security official said his country remained “committed to peaceful coexistence, but peace cannot be one-sided.”
“Attempts to pressure Pakistan through kinetic adventurism have repeatedly failed and will continue to fail,” he said. “The Chaman response has reaffirmed that message unmistakably.”
He added that Pakistan’s security forces were fully vigilant and that responsibility for any escalation “would solely rest with those who initiated unprovoked fire.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, also commented on the clashes in a social media post, saying the Afghan Taliban had “resorted to unprovoked firing along the border.”
“An immediate, befitting and intense response has been given by our armed forces,” he wrote.
Afghan authorities, however, blamed Pakistan for the hostilities.
Border clashes that began in October have killed dozens of people on both sides.
The latest incident comes amid reports of back-channel discussions between the two governments, although neither has publicly acknowledged such talks.
