Bogota A dead soldier and four wounded was the result of an attack with explosives on a Colombian army squad that occurred early Wednesday morning in a rural area of Norte de Santander, a department bordering Venezuela.
The government condemned the events and reported that the “attack with explosives” occurred in the municipality of El Tarra, when unknown persons threw devices at a group of soldiers.
So far no illegal armed group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The guerrilla Army of National Liberation (ELN) and the dissidents of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) operate in the area. Both groups hold peace talks with the government of President Gustavo Petro.
With the ELN on Monday the fourth cycle of negotiations began in Caracas, in which the two parties have stated that they will be focused on issues such as the participation of civil society in the construction of peace. With this guerrilla there is a ceasefire in force since August 3.
On July 9, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, attached to the Colombian government, announced the beginning of talks with the FARC dissidence called the Central General Staff. Another group of dissidents from the peace agreement with that ex-guerrilla, led by Carlos Eduardo García, alias Andrey Avendaño, also operates in Norte de Santander.
In addition to this incident, on Wednesday there was also an attack against a police substation in the municipality of La Gabarra, in the same department.
According to the Norte de Santander police commander, Colonel John Robert Chavarro Romero, the attack was carried out with “improvised explosives and rifles”. However, the rapid reaction of the police and the army managed to repel the action and there were no fatalities or injuries.
Marches are planned for Wednesday in different cities of Colombia to demand, precisely, more action against insecurity in different departments of the country, in which acts of violence have increased, according to reports from national authorities.
