The Colombian government reported that at least 23 dead left the clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident groups of the FARC. The fighting would have occurred on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, according to the defense ministry of Iván Duque’s executive.
Colombian Vice Minister Jairo García asserted that “Today we have 23 dead that have been found at this time” in a rural area of the department of Arauca. In early 2022, ELN and FARC groups clashed with two other dissident guerrilla groups.
Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano stated that “It is a dispute that originated in Venezuela and that later had repercussions in different townships of Arauca”. Among the 15 bodies identified are four Venezuelans and two people with criminal records for carrying weapons.
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Molano asserted that one of them was a ringleader known by the alias of “Flaco Fred.” FARC dissidents number regarding 5,200 combatants, but without a unified command. The Indepaz study center specifies that 85% of them are new recruits who were never in the defunct organization.
Time notes that President Duque commented that “It is also likely that there are civilians” killed. The conservative Colombian government assures that the guerrillas “have been operating at ease in Venezuelan territory.” The ruler ordered the deployment of two battalions to the border area.
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Colombian President Iván Duque
Colombian President Iván Duque
