Colombia: Government continues to defend military operation in which civilians are said to have been killed

The Colombian government on Wednesday declared “legal” the military operation during which, according to residents and human rights organizations, eleven civilians were killed, who were presented by the armed forces as rebels killed in battle.

“It was a legitimate operation, which was planned for more than five months based on information from the intelligence services,” Defense Minister Diego Molano told the press.

An organization representing the indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC) and the Office of the Ombudsman have reported that an indigenous tribal leader and three other civilians were killed on March 29 in the March 29 military operation in the municipality of Leo Puerto (Puerto).

“The people who were killed by the army were not guerrillas, but civilians, including our indigenous comrades,” Oscar Dasha of OPIAC said on March 31.

By contrast, General Alberto Rodrεςguez had said in late March that the eleven people killed belonged to Segunda Marquetalia (“Second Market”, a name referring to a historic battle that led to the founding of the FARC), one of two Larger factions of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which rejects the 2016 peace agreement and operates in this city, on the border with Peru and Ecuador.

President Ivan Duque also insisted on Tuesday that this was an operation in which “legitimate targets” were hit.

According to the Minister of Defense, the so-called guerrillas “intimidate and threaten” in this community that, according to him, counts “over 220,000 acres” of coca crops, the plant whose leaves are the raw material in the process of cocaine production.

However, without making any reference to the fighting, the prosecutor’s office announced via Twitter on March 30 that it was investigating “the events in Puerto Legiso during which 11 people were killed.”

SOURCE: AMPE