Foiled invasion at beach, Venezuela says
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan officials said they foiled an early morning attempt by a group of armed "mercenaries" to invade the country in a beach landing on speedboats Sunday, killing eight attackers and arresting two.
Socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello said two of the attackers were interrogated by authorities. He said the attack was carried out by neighboring Colombia with United States backing in a plot to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro. Both countries have repeatedly denied previous Venezuelan allegations of backing for military plots against the socialist government.
"Those who assume they can attack the institutional framework in Venezuela will have to assume the consequences of their action," said Cabello, adding that one of the detained attackers claimed to be an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Authorities said they found Peruvian documents, high-caliber weapons, satellite phones, uniforms and helmets adorned with the U.S. flag.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol described the attackers as "mercenary terrorists" bent on destabilizing Venezuela's institutions and creating "chaos." Officials said the attack took place on a beach in La Guaira, about 20 miles from Caracas and home to the nation's largest airport.
Authorities say the attackers had vehicles and heavy arms waiting for them in the port city.
Venezuela has been in a deepening political and economic crisis in recent years under Maduro's rule. Crumbling public services such as running water, electricity and medical care has driven nearly 5 million to migrate.
Sri Lanka inmate dies in escape attempt
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Prison guards in Sri Lanka foiled an attempt by inmates to escape Sunday after they used ropes and bedsheet bed sheets to scale down the wall, leaving at least one dead, police said.
Seven prisoners tried to flee the penitentiary in Mahara on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo, the police spokesman's office said.
They were confronted by guards after scaling down the prison walls, leading to a scuffle during which the guards fired in the air, police said.
One inmate and two guards were injured and the inmate later died in a hospital, police said.
Sri Lankan prisons are highly congested, with more than 26,000 inmates crowded in facilities with the capacity for 10,000.
In March, two inmates were killed and six wounded when they fought with guards during a protest against strict new measures to control the spread of the coronavirus in prisons.
Last month, the government temporarily released on bail about 3,000 prisoners.
5 soldiers, 2 militants killed in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India -- Five Indian troops and two militants were killed in fighting in disputed Kashmir when the army and police stormed a house where rebels were holding hostages, officials said Sunday.
A five-member counterinsurgency team entered the house in the northwestern Handwara area late Saturday and "successfully extricated the civilians," the Indian army said.
The government forces came under heavy gunfire from militants, and in the ensuing firefight, two militants and all the team members died, the army said.
It did not specify how many civilians were rescued. No militant group immediately commented and there was no independent confirmation of the hostage-taking.
A police officer said an army colonel and a major along with a police officer and two other soldiers tried to storm the hideout and were gunned down by the militants. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
The officer said the reinforcement of special forces was called in and they shot dead the two militants but other two probably escaped.
Meanwhile, at least eight civilians, including three young children and a teenage boy, were injured Sunday in a blast caused by an explosive device just a few kilometers from Saturday's gunbattle site, police said.
Police were investigating whether the device was a leftover shell from the earlier gunbattle.
6 people dead in Bolivian plane crash
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LA PAZ, Bolivia -- A Bolivian air force plane flying a humanitarian mission crashed minutes after takeoff in the Amazonian region, killing all six occupants, including four Spaniards who were being ferried to catch a flight to their homeland, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.
The Beechcraft Baron, a twin-engine propeller plane, went down in a marshy area on the outskirts of Trinidad, a city in the northeast of the country, the ministry said.
The ministry identified the Spaniards as Francisco Jose Gallegos Gonzales, Yandira Olivera Velarde, Delis Salvatierra Velarde and Alba Aparicio Formas. It said the plane was crewed by an air force captain and lieutenant.
The plane was carrying the Spaniards to the city of Santa Cruz, where they were to board a flight bound for their country.
The ministry said investigators were working to determine the cause of the crash.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 05/04/2020