Page 6 - aruba-today-20230106

A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 6 January 2023

Violence paralyzes Mexican stronghold of Sinaloa drug cartel

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Orga- dor will host U.S. President
nized crime paralyzed the Joe Biden for bilateral talks
western Mexico city of Cu- followed by a North Ameri-
liacan, a stronghold of the can Leaders’ Summit with
Sinaloa drug cartel, as al- Biden and Canadian Prim-
leged cartel members car- er Minister Justin Trudeau.
jacked residents and set Culiacan has seen such
vehicles ablaze on Thurs- displays before. One of the
day in apparent response most notorious occurred in
to the arrest of a cartel October 2019, when fed-
leader. Local and state au- eral security forces corned
thorities warned everyone Ovidio Guzmán, one of
to stay inside and said their the sons of Sinaloa cartel
federal counterparts would leader Joaquin “El Chapo”
announce the results of the Guzmán. When gunmen
pre-dawn military opera- began shooting up the city
tion. with high-powered weap-
Such outbursts of violence ons, the government re-
often come in response to treated and let the young-
arrests of important car- er Guzmán escape. López
tel figures as their allies at- Obrador said at the time
tempt to create chaos. he had made the decision
Drug trafficking, along with to avoid the loss of life.
immigration, is expected This Oct. 17, 2019 frame grab from video provided by the Mexican government shows Ovidio The 2019 debacle was a
to be a top talking point Guzman Lopez at the moment of his detention, in Culiacan, Mexico. black eye for López Obra-
as U.S. President Joe Biden Associated Press dor’s administration in the
travels to Mexico on Mon- realm of security and raised
day and Tuesday to meet adding that the state was work was suspended for conference, President An- even more questions about
with Mexcian President responding and would in- all municipal employees. drés Manuel López Obra- Mexico’s commitment to
Andres Manuel Lopez Ob- form when they could. State education authorities dor confirmed there was an battling the country’s pow-
rador and Canadian Prime The city of Culiacan post- announced that all admin- ongoing operation in Culia- erful drug cartels.
Minister Justin Trudeau. ed on social media “Don’t istrative and teacher activi- can, but they would share López Obrador entered of-
Sinaloa state security leave home! The safety of ties were also suspended information on it later. fice highly critical of the toll
chief Cristóbal Castañeda Culiacan’s citizens is the Thursday in Culiacan. The operation comes just of his predecessors’ drug
warned citizens via Twitter, most important.” It said During his morning press days before López Obra- war. q

Afghan Taliban kill 8 in raids of IS hideouts in Afghanistan

By RAHIM FAIEZ hid said. “These members ghan capital’s military air- has increased its attacks in the Associated Press that a
Associated Press had a main role in the at- port Sunday. IS said that Afghanistan since the Tal- house that was raided had
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Af- tack on the Chinese hotel attack was carried out by iban takeover in 2021. Tar- been occupied by a family
ghanistan’s ruling Taliban and paved the way for for- the same militant who took gets have included Taliban that moved recently to the
killed eight Islamic State eign IS members to come part in the Longan Hotel as- patrols and members of Af- area. He said two women
militants and arrested nine to Afghanistan,” Mujahid sault in mid-December. ghanistan’s Shiite minority. and two children were res-
others in a series of raids said in a tweet. The regional affiliate of IS published a photo of the cued from the house.
targeting key figures in a The Islamic State group the Islamic State group — attacker, identifying him as Badrudin, another resident
spate of attacks in Kabul, a claimed responsibility for known as the Islamic State Abdul Jabbar, saying he from the same neighbor-
senior Taliban government a deadly bombing near in Khorasan Province and withdrew safely from the hood, said Taliban security
spokesman said Thursday. a checkpoint at the Af- a key rival of the Taliban — attack on the hotel after forces surrounded the area
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokes- he ran out of ammunition. and asked people to stay
man for the Taliban gov- It added he detonated his inside their homes before
ernment, said the raids in explosives-laden vest tar- they launched the opera-
the capital city and west- geting the soldiers gath- tion.
ern Nimroz province on ered at the checkpoint. “I wanted to come out of
Wednesday targeted IS Mujahid said light weap- house, but Taliban asked
militants who organized ons, hand grenades, mines, me to stay inside, then (the)
recent attacks on Kabul’s vests and explosives were attack started and last(ed)
Longan Hotel, Pakistan’s confiscated by the Tal- about two hours,” said Bad-
embassy and the military iban’s security forces dur- rudin, who like many Af-
airport. ing the raids on an IS hide- ghans uses only one name.
Eight IS fighters, including out in the Shahdai Salehin The Taliban swept across
foreign nationals, were neighborhood. Local resi- the country in August 2021,
killed and seven others ar- dents reported sounds of seizing power as U.S. and
rested in Kabul, while a sep- several explosions and an NATO forces were in the
arate operation in western hourslong gun battle. last weeks of their final with-
Nimroz province resulted in Taliban fighters check an Islamic State group house that was Mohammad Hakim Pain- drawal from Afghanistan
two more IS arrests, Muja- destroyed in the ongoing conflict between the two in Kabul, da, a local resident, told after 20 years of war.q
Afghanistan, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023.