On Thursday, a guerrilla group attacked an army base with drones and explosives, killing at least seven Colombian soldiers and wounding 30 others, the military said.
The attack, which took place on military base 27 in northern Cesar department, was blamed on the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian group listed as a terrorist organization by the US State Department and the European Union.
“In this terrorist attack, the criminals used a drone equipped with an improvised explosive device and fired unconventional explosive devices indiscriminately,” the army said in a statement.
According to reports, the soldiers were resting in hammocks after a day’s training when they were attacked.
According to the military, the injured soldiers were evacuated to a local medical center, while army units carried out operations to secure the area.
The dead soldiers were identified as Jaime Alejandro Cardenas Ramirez, Mateo Pino Pulgarin, Juan David Perez Vides, Kevin Andres Mendez Torres, John Freddy Moreno Sierra, Brandon Daniel Valderrama Martinez, and Jorge Mario Orozco Diaz.
Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez Suárez condemned the attack and said the threat posed by the ELN must be dismantled. “If we don’t do that, the public will be at serious risk,” he said.
The minister added that the military “prevents about 95% of drone attacks, but this threat is growing rapidly and at a very fast pace, seriously endangering national security.”
The attack came after the ELN declared a nationwide “armed offensive” in protest of what it called the “threat of imperialist intervention” by the United States. The attack disrupted civilian movement and paralyzed daily activities in areas where the ELN had influence.
Armed attacks were accompanied by acts of violence against infrastructure and public forces.
Authorities said they will release more information as the investigation progresses.
