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Colombian Authorities Deport Two Hezbollah Operatives

Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano (Reuters)
Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano (Reuters)
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Colombian Authorities Deport Two Hezbollah Operatives

Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano (Reuters)
Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano (Reuters)

The Colombian authorities arrested and deported two members of the Lebanese Hezbollah who were spying on US and Israeli diplomats.

The Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said that the Hezbollah operatives attempted to carry out attacks against Israeli and US targets in Colombia.

Israeli intelligence (Mossad) confirmed that Hezbollah sent its agents to Bogota to carry out operations in retaliation for the assassination of Qasim Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force commander.

Soleimani was killed in an airstrike in early 2020 carried out by a US drone near Baghdad International Airport.

In the wake of the assassination, Iran warned that US bases, ships, and forces would be potential targets for a response.

In turn, Hezbollah threatened, in the wake of Soleimani's assassination, to expel all US from the Middle East.

Earlier this year, Hezbollah Sec-Gen Hassan Nasrallah said Iran "does not need help" from its allies and would retaliate "when it decides so."

Nasrallah added that Tehran would not ask any other country or body to conduct a retaliatory strike on its behalf, stressing that Iran is a "strong country and will decide when and how to react.

"It does not need to rely on others."

Iran also threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for killing a prominent nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

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Finland Hails Plan for Allies to Join NATO Land Forces on its Soil

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
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Finland Hails Plan for Allies to Join NATO Land Forces on its Soil

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on the eve of a NATO defense ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/ File Photo

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen hailed plans on Wednesday for six NATO member states including Britain and France to participate in land forces that are to be established in northern Finland. Finland, which has a longer border with Russia than any other NATO state, has strengthened the frontier in the two years since it joined the military alliance following a policy U-turn after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Reuters reported.

"I am very pleased that yesterday, in connection with the ministerial meeting, we were able to announce that Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Norway, Denmark and Iceland are set to join FLF Finland," Hakkanen said on X, referring to what NATO calls Forward Land Forces.

NATO leaders were meeting on Wednesday in The Hague.

Helsinki and Stockholm agreed last year that Sweden would lead the establishment of a NATO land force in Finland and invited other allies to participate.

The number of troops is yet to be defined. But the Finnish defense ministry has said that there is a plan for up to a brigade - about 5,000 soldiers - and a significant number of equipment to be brought in if the security situation worsens.

The first NATO land forces will start to arrive this year and be placed above the Arctic circle in Rovaniemi and Sodankyla, it said.

In addition to the foreign reinforcement force in the north, Finland will host a new NATO land force headquarters for officers in Mikkeli, southern Finland, an about two-hour drive from the Finnish-Russian border.