Colombia

At least 25 rebels killed; 50 others captured

Soldiers killed at least 25 suspected rebels and paramilitary fighters Saturday in three military operations in central Colombia, authorities said.

Meanwhile, police captured 50 suspected rebels, some of whom are allegedly responsible for the killing of 10 hostages including a state governor during a botched rescue attempt in May.

Government troops fired on guerrillas, allegedly from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in their rebel camp in the mountains of Casanare state. Sixteen rebels were killed and more than 100 fled, the army said.

No soldiers were killed in the fighting, which took place 150 miles northeast of Bogota.

India

Attacks in Kashmir kill at least nine, wound 40

Violence surged sharply in Indian-controlled Kashmir Saturday with a series of separatist attacks across the Himalayan region. At least nine people were killed and 40 wounded, police said.

In the deadliest attack, a bomb exploded in a busy wholesale market on the outskirts of Srinagar, killing six people and wounding 34, said Tirath Acharya, a spokesman for the Border Security Force.

A Pakistan-based militant group, Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, claimed responsibility in a telephone call to a local news agency in Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state.

Liberia

Peacekeeper deployment postponed until Monday

The deployment of several hundred West African peacekeepers to Liberia’s volatile interior was postponed because government troops have yet to withdraw from the area, a top peacekeeping official said.

Government troops must leave the checkpoints in and around the north-central town of Kakata, Col. Theophilus Tawiah, the peace force’s Ghanian chief of staff, said Saturday.

“We want to get between (rebel) forces and government troops,” Tawiah said. He blamed “a lack of coordination” with defense officials for the delay.

The deployment, now set for Monday, will establish the peacekeepers’ first substantial foothold outside the capital since arriving in the war-shattered nation to bolster security on Aug. 4.

Afghanistan

Troops capture five fleeing Taliban fighters

Afghan forces in the southern province of Zabul captured five fugitive Taliban militants Saturday, including an insurgent leader, after a battle that killed scores of rebels, a regional Afghan commander said.

The U.S. military said it could confirm that at least 84 enemy fighters were killed in action.

The main Afghan commander in Zabul province, Haji Saifullah Khan, said his troops patrolling the district of Mizan, 25 miles northwest of the provincial capital, Qalat, captured the Taliban fighters late Friday. The captives included a junior rebel commander identified as Mullah Salam.

“Mullah Salam was injured and he was taken away in a U.S. helicopter,” Khan said without elaborating.

London

Britain sending 120 more soldiers to Iraq

Britain is sending 120 more soldiers to Iraq, the Ministry of Defense said Saturday, amid press reports that hundreds more British soldiers may be deployed there.

The 120 soldiers are part of the 2nd Light Infantry stationed in Cyprus. Some left Friday and the rest Saturday, the ministry said.

The soldiers have been on standby for Iraq duty for some time and their deployment was not related to a review of British troop strength in Iraq that was ordered by Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon, a ministry spokeswoman said.

There are about 11,000 British soldiers serving in Iraq, mostly in the southern area of Basra, the ministry said.