World Briefs: 19 killed in Mexico gang clash

19 killed in Mexico gang clash

CIUDAD JUAREZ • A gang battle in Mexico has left at least 19 people dead in the northern state of Chihuahua, officials said.

The government has "launched an operation to investigate and locate armed groups that staged a confrontation that left 19 people dead on Friday in the town of Madera", the authorities said last Saturday.

According to local reports, the bloodshed occurred on Friday evening when alleged hitmen related to the Sinaloa Cartel were driving on a dirt road in Madera. They were ambushed by men from a rival group linked to the Juarez Cartel.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


Rwanda arrests soldiers over crimes

KIGALI • The Rwanda Defence Force said it has arrested five soldiers accused of alleged "criminal misconduct" against civilians in Nyarutarama, a Kigali city suburb.

The national army said last Saturday that five suspects had been detained, with the incidents occurring in the last two weeks.

The move came days after recent media reports from Nyarutarama that men in military uniform, with their name tags removed, had raped some women and beaten up other residents.

XINHUA


Israel detains Palestinian governor

JERUSALEM • Israel detained the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem, Mr Adnan Ghaith, yesterday over "illegal" activities.

"Adnan Ghaith was detained this morning for Palestinian activity in Jerusalem, which is illegal," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Agence France-Presse.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) official was arrested by Israel at least six times last year.

Mr Ghaith's attorney, Mr Rami Othman, said the governor, who was taken in for questioning, was apprehended primarily due to Palestinian activity related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Israel bans all activities by the PA in Jerusalem. As a result, the PA has a minister for Jerusalem affairs and a Jerusalem governor located in Al-Ram, just on the other side of an Israeli wall that separates the city and the occupied West Bank.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 06, 2020, with the headline World Briefs: 19 killed in Mexico gang clash. Subscribe