Rio de Janeiro, Oct 25. (dpa/GNA) – Ten rebels have been killed during a military operation against the Colombian guerrilla organization ELN, President Abelardo de la Espriella said on Sunday.
Writing on social media, he called it “the hardest blow against the ELN in the past eight years!”
Operation “Ă“nix” took place in a rural area of the department of Cauca in the south-west of the country.
Among those killed were two senior commanders of the organization. The security forces also seized seven rifles, a pistol and two grenades, the president said.
“I will not tell you that the threat posed by the ELN ends with a single operation,” de la Espriella continued. “These drug-trafficking terrorist organizations can organize themselves, but today they have suffered a clear, significant and fundamental blow. Our security forces will continue to take action to prevent them from regaining their capacity for criminal activity.”
De la Espriella, who took office in early August, has adopted a significantly tougher approach towards armed groups than his left-wing predecessor, Gustavo Petro.
Under his “Paz Total” (Total Peace) policy, Petro sought to negotiate peace agreements with various armed organizations, but the efforts failed to produce a decisive breakthrough.
After taking office, de la Espriella announced that his government would treat all armed groups as terrorist organizations, shifting the focus from political negotiations to military operations and criminal prosecution.
Besides the ELN, Colombia’s main armed groups include dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla movement and the Gulf Clan, a powerful criminal organization heavily involved in drug trafficking.
GNA