A drone strike on a military base in northern Colombia has killed three soldiers and wounded at least 16 others, the country’s armed forces said.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the military said the attack struck a base in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range. Authorities have not said who was responsible. The assault is the latest in a string of attacks on security personnel as violence grows in the countryside.
Gold-rich region long contested by armed groups
The area is rich in gold mines and has been fought over for years by rebel groups. Those named as competing for control include the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and smaller factions run by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Footage circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke rising from the base after three blasts. Soldiers could be seen sheltering behind walls of sandbags.
President vows response after base assault
President Abelardo de la Espriella posted on X that those behind the attack would find no place to hide. “Every attack against our soldiers strengthens our resolve to defend Colombia,” he wrote.
Violence has increased in several rural zones since de la Espriella, a conservative, took office in August. He has called off peace negotiations with rebel organisations and adopted a harder line, carrying out more air strikes, sending additional troops to some cities and forming joint task forces to guard key infrastructure, including a pipeline running from the Caribbean coast to central Colombia.
His government contends that armed groups exploited ceasefires agreed under the previous administration to tighten their hold on rural areas, where they levy taxes on local businesses and profit from the drug trade. Some of these groups have responded by intensifying attacks on the armed forces.
Attacks on security forces rise nationwide
Last week, a military base in Tolima province was hit by missiles fashioned from gas canisters, killing four civilians, one of them a two-month-old baby. Police in the border city of Cucuta have also been repeatedly targeted with remotely detonated bombs.
ACLED, a group that tracks armed conflict, said state forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 bomb or explosive attacks across Colombia in the four weeks to October 16. That figure was 9 percent higher than the average for the same four-week period last year.
A 2016 peace agreement with FARC led to the demobilisation of more than 14,000 fighters. Since then, smaller armed groups have fought over the territory the rebels once held.
