Yemen's government is denying press reports that it released a large group of al-Qaeda suspects from prison last week. The Yemeni embassy in Washington issued a statement saying the 108 released prisoners are not affiliated with al-Qaeda in any way. Anonymous Yemeni security officials had been quoted saying that authorities were releasing about 170 suspects linked to al-Qaeda after the detainees signed commitments to good behavior. The US has expressed concern about past releases of suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen. Al-Qaeda's Yemeni chapter claimed responsibility for an attack on the US embassy in Sanaa last September that killed 13 Yemenis. Six attackers also were killed. (VOA, Feb. 10)

As Russia marks the 20th anniversary of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the BBC Feb. 14 spoke with veterans of the Soviet military campaign there, who had grim words of warning for Washington. "Doubling their forces won't lead to a solution on the ground," said Col Oleg Kulakov, who served twice in Afghanistan and is now a lecturer and historian in Moscow. "The conflict cannot be solved by military means, it's an illusion. No-one can reach any political goal in Afghanistan relying on military force. Frankly speaking, they are doomed to repeat our mistakes."

Two missiles fired from a US drone killed more than 30, reportedly including al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, in Pakistan's Tribal Areas Feb. 14. The missiles struck three compounds, including one used by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and his fighters. Arab and Uzbek militants were apparently among those killed. The compounds were in the village of Shwangai, near the town of Makeen, South Waziristan. (NYT, Feb. 14)

The Colombian government has not done enough to stem the rising violence against labor union leaders or address the backlog of labor union leader killings, witnesses told the US House Education and Labor Committee Feb. 12. A leading Colombian labor think tank, the National Labor School, also testified that killings of union members jumped by 25% in 2008.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees called upon Colombia to investigate the killings of a group of indigenous people last week that raised fears of a mass exodus. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva Feb. 10 that "an irregular armed group" carried out an attack on the Awá people in a remote jungle region of Nariño department, killing 17 people. Nariño's socialist governor Antonio Navarro, citing witness accounts, said the attack had been carried out by the FARC guerillas.

Soldiers in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua chased and killed 14 armed men who had kidnapped nine people and killed six of them Feb. 10. One soldier was killed by the kidnappers, bringing the death toll to 21. The gunmen took the hostages from the ranching town of Villa Ahumada and drove them to an isolated farm where six were killed, said Enrique Torres, a spokesman for Conjunto Chihuahua, federal government's multi-agency anti-drug operation in the state. A military convoy caught up with the kidnappers about 80 miles south of El Paso, killed seven of them and freed the remaining three hostages. Soldiers then pursued the other seven gunmen through heavy snow and killed them in a shootout. Three more apparent members of the gang were killed by soldiers in a mopping-up operation in Villa Ahumada Feb. 13. Assault rifles, fragmentation grenades and military uniforms and helmets were seized in the operation. (La Jornada, Mexico City, KVIA, El Paso, Feb. 13; NYT, Feb. 11)

Octavio Almanza Moreles AKA "El Gori 4" and six other presumed members of the Gulf Cartel's notorious paramilitary arms, the Zetas, were arrested in the Mexican resort city of Cancún on charges related to the killing of retired Gen. Mauro Enrique Tello Quiñones and 10 other military men, the federal Prosecutor General's Office announced Feb. 13.

Brazilian police arrested 51 members of two supposed narcotics gangs Feb. 11 in simultaneous raids in eight states involving 300 federal officers and another 200 from the Rio de Janeiro police force. Most of those arrested were members of the middle class who communicated among themselves by Internet to elude wiretaps. Police seized ecstasy, LSD, cocaine, hashish and an inhalant drug made from chloroform and ether. Police said weapons were seized, including assault rifles. (LAHT, Feb. 11)