Five soldiers were killed Tuesday in northwestern Colombia in an attack attributed to the Clan del Golfo, the strongest drug-trafficking gang in the Andean country, the general staff said.
The military patrolled a rural area in the Cordoba district when they suffered attack with explosives by alleged members of the Clan del Golfo.
Five of them were killed and three others were injured, according to a statement from the staff, which said the ambush had taken place in the municipality of Puerto Libertador, an area where coca is grown, the plant whose leaves are the raw material for cocaine production.
Last week, seven Clan del Golfo members were killed in the area during security operations.
«This message is intended for this villain, the chosen Otoniel (…). We will chase him and he has two alternatives, either to surrender to the authorities or to get what he deserves“, Said the President of Colombia, Ivan Duque, when asked by the press about the attack.
The Clan del Golfo is the largest drug trafficking gang in Colombia. It was formed by former members of far-right paramilitary groups fighting left-wing guerrillas until 2010 and is led by Dario Antonio Usuga (also known as “Otoniel”), the most wanted criminal in the country, also touted by the US, offering a reward of 5 million dollars.
Colombia is currently experiencing its worst resurgence of violence since the signing of the historic 2016 peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which was supposed to turn the page on nearly six decades of civil war.
A myriad of armed groups, FARC insurgents rejecting the peace deal, National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, paramilitaries and drug traffickers are claiming control of areas from which FARC fighters have withdrawn or where their presence is possible. .
Armed groups are funded by the production and trafficking of drugs as well as the illegal mining of metals, especially gold – and often clash fiercely over control of resources or areas.
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