A bombing ordered by President Abelardo de la Espriella killed 20 guerrillas from the FARC dissidents in the Colombian Amazon, the deadliest attack of this type in years, the president reported this Monday.
The operation against the rebels under the orders of the most wanted rebel in the country, Iván Mordiso, took place in the early hours of Monday, within the framework of the tough line against criminals promoted by De la Espriella.
This is the new government's third bombing against guerrillas and the largest since the government of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), said a military source.
"We killed twenty narcoterrorists, we captured five (...) and we recovered two minors," said the right-wing president in a video shared on X about the offensive in the conflictive department of Guaviare.
The region is one of the historical strongholds of the defunct FARC guerrilla, where rebels who decided not to adhere to the 2016 peace agreement now operate.
The president wants to subdue illegal groups that finance themselves with drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion through bombings with the help of his partners the United States and Israel. His government has killed at least 38 guerrillas in its first weeks.
"Scared"
Four minors died in the new government's first two bombings: two 15-year-olds and two 16-year-olds. It is not yet known if there were minors in this Monday's air attack.
Human rights organizations warn about the impact of the bombings on child victims of recruitment in poor areas with minimal State presence.
The illegal Mordisco group is the most responsible for the recruitment of minors, with 40% of the cases, according to the Ombudsman's Office.
The previous governments of the leftist Gustavo Petro (2022-2026) and the rightist Iván Duque (2018-2022) received harsh criticism for the deaths of minors in their bombings.
Yordan Ibarra, a tour guide in San José del Guaviare and surrounding areas, said he heard helicopters and saw military troops deployed in the area. "The farmers are scared" by the bombings and the possible crossfire, he said.
In Guaviare, clashes between insurgents and the armed forces are frequent, as are curfews and mobility restrictions ordered by guerrillas.
"Behind" Mordisco
In the midst of the worst wave of violence in recent years in Colombia, the last two presidents tried to hunt down the guerrilla leader Iván Mordisco.
He is the top leader of the FARC dissident structure known as the Central General Staff (EMC), made up of thousands of rebels who departed from the historic peace agreement between that guerrilla and the Colombian government in 2016.
He is hiding somewhere in the Colombian jungle and has been left for dead repeatedly.
"We are going after you Mordisco (...) I am going to make you pay for all the damage you have done to Colombia," said the president of the country that produces the most cocaine in the world.
On August 12, Colombia authorized joint operations with the United States to subdue the insurgents who are spreading terror in the country.
The country also joined the Shield of the Americas, the coalition of countries led by Donald Trump to combat drug trafficking.
Bite "and those who make up its criminal structures must understand it: the State will not give them a truce," Defense Minister Jorge Mora said in X after the last bombing.
A military source said military units will move to the bombing site on Tuesday to collect the bodies.
Amid the violence, a car bomb
A car bomb exploded on Monday next to the police station in the municipality of Los Patios, in the department of Norte de Santander, near the border with Venezuela, leaving one civilian dead, eleven injured and part of the structure destroyed. Among the injured are two police officers, one of them with a lower limb amputated and the other with shrapnel wounds, as confirmed by Colonel Jimmy Balalcázar. Dozens of curious onlookers approached the area of the attack, which occurred around midnight, while the vehicle – a stolen car, loaded with 80 kilos of explosives and painted to simulate a taxi – continued to burn after being detonated by remote control.
