Ten guerrillas were killed and three others wounded, Tuesday, March 2, in the bombardment by the army of one of the main dissident groups of the former rebellion of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in the south-east from Colombia.
Defense Minister Diego Molano said that during “Of a joint operation of the military and police forces, thirteen members of the FARC dissidence commanded by a.k.a “Gentle Duarte” have been neutralized ”. The ministry said in a statement that the bombing was carried out by “Colombian Air Force”.
The operation took place on Tuesday morning in a rural area of the municipality of Calamar, in the Amazonian department of Guaviare, one of the areas where the influence of dissidents, who have distanced themselves from the agreement of peace signed in 2016 by the FARC, is the strongest.
In his statement to the media, the minister promised a war “Relentlessly against narcocriminals (…) responsible for the recruitment of minors, attacks against our public force, kidnapping and illegal mining “. He added that military operations against this group would not cease, before reaching some. “Its leader, symbol of evil, “Gentle Duarte” “, real name Miguel Santillana Botache, one of Colombia’s most wanted FARC dissident ex-commanders.
A wave of violence
Although most of the 13,000 former Marxist guerrillas, including 7,000 combatants, have laid down their arms, factions have left the peace process in the past three years. They represent around 2,500 men without a unified command. Funded by drug trafficking and clandestine mines, these groups have strengthened in isolated areas of the country, such as Guaviare, a region of jungle and coca plantations (cocaine base), according to the military intelligence service.
The government holds them responsible for several assassinations out of more than 250 recorded, committed by former guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, now transformed into a legal political party.
Colombia is currently facing the worst wave of violence it has seen since their disarmament, the main victims of which are former rebels, human rights defenders and community leaders.
ELN rebels “protected in Venezuela”, according to Ivan Duque
FARC dissidents, as well as the National Liberation Army (ELN), considered the last active guerrilla war in the country, and gangs of paramilitary origin, are vying for control of drug trafficking and illegal mining.
President Ivan Duque announced last Friday the deployment of an elite commando group of 7,000 soldiers intended to fight them, but which has yet to report any operation.
In early February, he reaffirmed that ELN rebels “Are protected in Venezuela”, to which President Nicolas Maduro responded by promising to “Respond with force” at the creation of this commando if “Ivan Duque dared to violate the sovereignty of Venezuela”.
Although the agreement with the FARC has reduced its intensity, Colombia remains plagued by a complex internal war which, since the 1960s, has seen guerrillas, far-right paramilitary militias and armed forces clash, doing more nine million victims (dead, missing, displaced).
