Colombia Launches Military Operation Against Two Armed Groups

SadaNews - Colombia announced on Friday to Saturday the launch of a military attack on the two armed groups responsible for the attacks that occurred the previous day, resulting in 19 deaths, including civilians.

The Minister of Defense, Pedro Sanchez, visited Cali (southwest) on Friday, where at least 6 civilians were killed and more than 60 injured in a car bomb explosion on Thursday near an air base. He announced the launch of Operation "Sultana" to protect Colombia from "terrorism and crime," without providing any details.

In a separate attack carried out on Thursday morning, 13 police officers were killed in northwestern Colombia near Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, in a shootout and a drone attack on a helicopter supporting anti-drug operations.

The authorities attributed the two attacks to factions that split from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which rejected the peace agreement signed in 2016 and entered into conflict with it.

Sanchez stated that the areas where the two armed groups are active have witnessed a decline in extortion, executions, and the recruitment of boys, which "has led them to despair" and pushed them to "use the most criminal weapon of all, which is terrorism."

He confirmed after a meeting with the senior military leadership overnight: "We are facing an international mafia with armed gangs here" in Colombia.

Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, is facing increasing criticism for following a strategy of dialogue with armed groups rather than confronting them.

The mayor of Cali acknowledged in an interview with "Blue Radio" that there was a "gap in intelligence that needs to be corrected," pointing out that a second car bomb at the attack site did not explode, otherwise "it would have been much worse."

The attorney general announced the arrest of two men suspected of involvement in the attack, according to "Agence France-Presse."