ELN destroys police substation in Guamalito, Catatumbo, with drones and dynamite
The ELN attacked with drones and dynamite the police substation in Guamalito, in El Carmen, Norte de Santander, leaving the hamlet without police presence.
ELN guerrilla devastates police substation in Catatumbo and leaves hamlet without security forces
According to elcolombiano.com, the National Liberation Army (ELN) completely destroyed the police substation in the hamlet of Guamalito, in the municipality of El Carmen, in the Catatumbo region of Norte de Santander. Images circulated on social media show the building reduced to rubble following a series of attacks using drones and dynamite.
Last Wednesday, 21 police officers were evacuated by air after successive guerrilla attacks rendered the structure unusable. The mayor of the municipality, José Contreras, confirmed the takeover to Blu Radio on Thursday 10 July and clarified the sequence of events.
"The hamlet of Guamalito, in the municipality of El Carmen, had its police substation affected on Friday with drones and destruction of more than 80 per cent. Repeatedly, on Monday they finished attacking it and caused total destruction," Contreras said.
The local official lamented that the hamlet was left without police presence and noted that the Army had also not arrived in the area. "Unfortunately we do not have police and the Army has not yet arrived in the hamlet of Guamalito. According to information from the community itself, the substation was taken by alleged members of the criminal organisation the ELN, to which these attacks are attributed, according to intelligence and security forces," he added.
Capture of alleged sniper, possible trigger for the escalation
One hypothesis being considered by authorities about the recent escalation of violence points to the capture of Dairo Ferizzola Rojas, alias Firu or Firulais, identified as one of the snipers of the Frente Camilo Torres of the ELN. The man was detained in Ocaña by units of the Dijín and Dipol.
According to intelligence information shared by president Abelardo de la Espriella on 4 September, Firu had allegedly been designated to carry out a sniper attack against the president.
Minefield in Tibú leaves one dead and two injured
The destruction of the substation occurred in the same week as the activation of a minefield in a rural area of Tibú, also in Norte de Santander, which left one person dead and two injured. According to preliminary Army information, three peasants were passing through a spot near kilometre 25 of the road connecting the urban area with the hamlet of La Gabarra on the afternoon of Wednesday 9 September, when the explosion occurred.
Among the two injured survivors were two minors. The community transported them to the local health clinic, and authorities coordinated their helicopter extraction by the Air Force to Cúcuta.
De la Espriella orders intensification of operations and announces arrests in Cauca
President De la Espriella has ordered the intensification of military operations against the ELN in response to attacks attributed to the guerrilla in different parts of the country. In the early morning of 10 September, the president announced the capture of two "narcoterrorists" of the ELN in La Sierra, Cauca, including alias El Flaco, identified as a leader of the Frente Manuel Vásquez Castaño.
"This criminal is linked to extortion, kidnappings, forced recruitment and coercion against the population of the Colombian Massif," De la Espriella said.
ELN leader in Catatumbo reappears and announces continuation of attacks
Under pressure from the National Government, alias Silvana Guerrero, an ELN leader with influence in Catatumbo, reappeared publicly in recent days. In his message he accused the Frente 33—a structure with which the ELN maintains a dispute for control of the region—of being allied with the Military Forces.
Guerrero also announced that the attacks would continue: "As 20 years ago, today we fight against a combined force of Army and paramilitary forces. As back then, equally today we fight proudly and with dignity for the liberation of our land." The Government, for its part, has promised to continue striking this criminal structure.
Source: Google News CO — Crime