On October 12, Colombian Army and police units, with the support of the Air Force, were pursuing a group of FARC guerrillas in the country’s northeast, among whom were believed to be around 30 wounded, following a bombardment that left approximately 11 rebels dead, a military source said.
On October 12, Colombian Army and police units, with the support of the Air Force, were pursuing a group of FARC guerrillas in the country’s northeast, among whom were believed to be around 30 wounded, following a bombardment that left approximately 11 rebels dead, a military source said.
“We believe that among the terrorists who are fleeing, there are around 30 wounded as a result of the bombardment of their camp,” located in a rural area of the municipality of Sardinata, in the department of Northern Santander (on the border with Venezuela), the Army source specified.
According to the report, the lifeless bodies of 11 guerrillas were found following the bombing, but others may have perished after a landslide in the area.
Around 80 rebels belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the main and oldest guerrilla group in the Andean country, were in the camp, the source added.
In subsequent clashes, two police officers were wounded and were admitted to medical centers in the city of Cucuta, the capital of Northern Santander.
The military offensive took place shortly after seven military personnel died in an ambush by alleged FARC members in a rural area in the country’s southwest, according to Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón.
The rebels attacked a military patrol that was taking supplies to other soldiers as the patrol was moving along a rural road in the municipality of Caloto, in the department of Cauca.
“They were cruelly attacked with explosives while defenseless,” the minister specified, speaking at an event in the city of Cali, the capital of the department of Valle, next to Cauca.
One soldier also died in a rural area of the municipality of Suárez (Cauca) when he was shot by a sniper while patrolling an area near a dam.
In recent weeks, as is common during the period before an election, the FARC guerrilla group, with around 8,000 men, has intensified its actions in various regions.
Colombian citizens will go to the polls on October 30 to elect departmental governors, municipal mayors, provincial legislators, municipal councilors, and district commissioners.