Two soldiers killed in ELN attack on El Trapiche Military Cantonment in Ocaña
The ELN attacked El Trapiche Military Cantonment in Ocaña, Norte de Santander, with drones, leaving two soldiers dead and five wounded. President De la Espriella announced a new strategy for Catatumbo.
ELN attack in Ocaña leaves two soldiers dead and five wounded
The Camilo Torres Restrepo Front of the National Liberation Army (ELN) attacked El Trapiche Military Cantonment, located in Ocaña, Norte de Santander, on the night of Friday 4 September 2026. The operation resulted in two uniformed personnel killed and five professional soldiers wounded, according to a report from the National Army. An aircraft of the Colombian Air Force (FAC) was struck by shrapnel during the offensive.
According to a report by infobae.com, the President of the Republic, Abelardo de la Espriella, stated that the armed group launched explosive devices from drones against the military facility. The National Army identified the victims as Captain Marco David Pirajón Montezuma and professional soldier Joel Alberto Jiménez Jaramillo. Both died during an encounter combat with alleged members of the guerrilla, after a platoon of motorised soldiers exited the unit to secure the outer perimeter following the initial attack.
Presidential warning to the ELN
De la Espriella made his reaction public through social media and issued a direct warning to the armed group. "I tell the ELN with absolute clarity: for every police officer or soldier that you murder, I will bring down upon you all the weight and all the legitimate force of the State. We will pursue you, find you and fight you without rest. You will regret every Colombian you murder," the president stated.
The president also expressed his solidarity with the families of the fallen: "To the families of our two murdered heroes, all my solidarity, my prayers and Colombia's gratitude. To our wounded soldiers, my wishes for your swift recovery."
New strategy for Catatumbo
De la Espriella announced that his Government will design a new strategy for the Catatumbo region, working alongside the military leadership and the National Police. The plan, according to the president, will aim to target armed structures, their leaders, their finances and the illicit economies that sustain their operation.
"We are going to strike their structures, their leaders, their finances and the illicit economies that feed their criminal machinery," he declared. In the same message he referred to drug trafficking as the primary driver of conflict in the region: "We are going to end that cancer of narco-terrorism that for decades has drained Catatumbo and Colombia."
The president emphasised that terrorism will not break the State's response: "They will not break us with terrorism. Each attack against our Public Force will strengthen our determination to defeat them."
Context: operation in Riohacha hours before the attack
Hours before the attack in Ocaña was confirmed, De la Espriella spoke from Cartagena Battalion in Riohacha, following the death of the alleged top leader of the Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada. The president described Pérez Toncel as one of the country's most wanted criminals, for whose capture a reward of up to 1,000 million pesos was offered.
The operation that killed the leader was carried out by a special unit of the Criminal Investigation Directorate and Interpol (Dijín) of the National Police in a home in the Los Olivos neighbourhood of Riohacha, near Almirante Padilla airport, with support from United States intelligence and participation of public force units.
"Those who should feel panic and terror are the criminals, because those who do not surrender will end up this way," De la Espriella stated in that appearance, where he also maintained that his administration is focusing efforts on preventing criminal organisations from intimidating the civilian population.
Source: Google News CO — Crime