A bomb blast near a camp in the northeastern Colombian city of Cucuta has injured 36 people, the government has said, citing members of the National Liberation Army (ELN).
The report was given by the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, condemning this “terrorist act” against “Colombian soldiers”.
According to initial information, three of the wounded soldiers are in serious condition, while two civilians among the victims are out of danger.
The blast occurred at a base used by the 30th Army Brigade.
“The initial case of the investigation” carried out by the authorities “is that the ELN is responsible for this foolish and heinous act” in Kukuta, a city on the border with Venezuela.
The ELN is officially considered the last rebel organization to continue its armed struggle in Colombia, following the 2016 peace agreement signed by the then president with the former Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces-People’s Army (FARC-EP), which was disarmed. and transformed into a political party.
Colombian President Ivan Duce went on the spot to “monitor” the reaction of the authorities.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Defense, around 15:00 (local time), two people riding in a white Toyota truck entered the base pretending to be public officials. Then there were two explosions in the vehicle that injured dozens of people in the military unit.
Agence France-Presse journalists took videos and photos showing the transport of many wounded to a clinic near the site of the attack.
Cucuta is the capital of the Norte de Santander region, where the ELN, the Pelusos, a remnant of a disbanded Maoist insurgent group, FARC insurgents, and various drug-trafficking gangs clash.
Armed groups are fighting for control of an area of about 410,000 acres where coca is grown in the area, which is part of a major smuggling route to Venezuela and the Caribbean.
President Duce buried the talks that began with the ELN during the days of his predecessor, Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos, following the January 2019 attack on the Bogota police academy that killed 22 probationers in addition to the perpetrator. .
The National Liberation Army, an organization founded by radicalized Catholic priests in 1964, is estimated by Colombia’s military intelligence service to have between 2,300 and 2,600 fighters and an extensive support network in the province and urban centers.
The organization’s leadership assures that it is not involved in drug trafficking.
Colombia is the country with the highest cocaine production in the world. The country where most of it is consumed is the USA.
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