The war in Catatumbo has escalated to alarming technological levels. In the Las Palmeras village, rural area of ​​Tibú (Norte de Santander), troops from the Rapid Deployment Battalion No. 9 were the target of an attack with drones loaded with explosives, allegedly perpetrated by the Juan Fernando Porras Martínez Front of the ELN.

The criminal action claimed the life of the professional soldier Juan Esteban González Sánchez, a native of Valle del Cauca, who did not survive the aerial detonation while carrying out territorial control tasks in this turbulent region.

The attack was not only lethal, but left four other uniformed officers injured. Two non-commissioned officers and two professional soldiers suffered injuries from shrapnel after the explosion of the air-dropped devices.

Due to the severity of the injuries, the victims had to be evacuated by helicopter to highly complex clinics in Cúcuta.

The National Army denounced that the use of these explosives using unconventional technology is a recurring practice of the ELN to hit the Public Force without exposing themselves to direct combat, flagrantly violating International Humanitarian Law.

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Catatumbo continues to be a “pressure cooker” due to the dispute over the control of drug trafficking and illegal mining.

The authorities warn that the use of drones with explosives is becoming the preferred weapon of illegal groups, which puts not only the military, but also the farmers who are trapped in the middle of the detonations, at maximum risk.

Despite the coup, the Army assured that it will not withdraw from the area and that it will intensify operations to neutralize this ELN structure that keeps the department of Norte de Santander under siege.

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