US EditionDrone Downs Colombian Police Helicopter During Coca Eradication as Officials Split on Blame
The attack involved a drone downing a police helicopter during coca crop eradication, killing 12 officers and escalating violence tied to dissident groups rejecting the 2016 peace deal.
- On Thursday, a Colombian National Police helicopter supporting manual coca eradication in Antioquia department was shot down by a drone, killing 12 police officers, Antioquia Governor Andrés Julián Rendón said.
- Officials linked the attack to EMC dissidents, with Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo S�nchez blaming the 36th Front of the Estado Mayor Central, who rejected the 2016 peace agreement and may have targeted the helicopter in retaliation for a cocaine seizure.
- Preliminary reports indicate the drone strike caused a fire in the aircraft, while a vehicle bomb near the military aviation school in Cali, Valle del Cauca, killed five and injured more than 30 on Thursday.
- Cali mayor Alejandro Eder ordered martial law, banned large trucks, and announced a US$10,000 reward while injured are treated at local health centres on Friday.
- The incidents mark one of the deadliest days this year and raise fresh concerns about Colombia's fragile peace process ahead of next year's elections, while coca cultivation reaches a record 253,000 hectares, complicating eradication efforts, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
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347 Articles
In Colombia, the government announced a military offensive against guerrilla groups after attacks on security forces with 19 deaths.
Three attacks were recorded in the Colombian cities of Amalfi, Cali and Florencia, in the night between Thursday and Friday, causing a total of 18 deaths and almost 70 wounded in what President Gustavo Petro denounced as an act of war, assigning the responsibilities to Frente 36: these are the factions Carlos Patiño and Estado Mayor Central, two important armed groups that have detached themselves from the Revolutionary Armed Forces (Farc) becau…
Many police officers were killed in a double attack in Colombia. The government suspects Farc splinter groups behind it and ordered a military operation.
Car Bomb and Attack on a Helicopter in Colombia Kill at Least 17, Including Police Officers
BOGOTA, Colombia—A car bomb and a separate attack on a police helicopter in Colombia killed at least 17 people Thursday, according to authorities. President Gustavo Petro attributed both attacks to dissidents of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly known as FARC. At least 12 police officers died in the attack on a helicopter that according to authorities was transporting personnel to an area in Antioquia in northern Colom…
Another bloody day in Colombia, which recalls the violence of a few decades ago: two attacks in different regions shook the country this Thursday, leaving at least 20 dead and more than 70 injured. In the morning, guerrillas shot down a police helicopter with a drone loaded with explosives, in a rural area of the department of Antioquia, in the northwest of the country. The incident caused the death of thirteen uniformed men. Blood had not stopp…
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