(Bogota) Two soldiers and a civilian were killed Wednesday morning in a bomb attack in northeastern Colombia, an official source has learned.
The explosion took place in the municipality of Paz de Ariporo, in the department of Casanare, in an area where dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) operate, who reject the peace agreement signed in 2016 between the government and this Marxist guerrilla.
“Unfortunately, the attack cost the lives of two soldiers and a civilian”, also leaving three injured, announced on his Twitter account the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano.
The explosion was caused by a charge placed “inside a vehicle,” said regional government secretary Oscar Gomez.
In addition to FARC dissidents, the National Liberation Army (ELN), the last recognized guerrilla in Colombia, is also active in the region, the scene of two other “attacks” recently, Gomez said.
Without a unified command, FARC dissidents number some 5,200 combatants, most of whom (85%) are new recruits who have never been members of the demobilized rebel organization, according to the independent foundation Indepaz.
These dissidents, the ELN, paramilitary groups and criminal organizations compete for the hefty revenues from drug trafficking in these isolated regions, where the state has little presence. Colombia is experiencing an upsurge in violence, often against civilians, attributed to these various armed actors, allies or rivals according to their interests.