According to the Police, the ELN would be hiring villagers to attack the oil infrastructure in Barrancabermeja

In February, an explosive device hit line 703 of water and crude oil that reaches station 7 of the La Cira Infantas field, jurisdiction of the Campo 25 village, El Centro district, in the municipality of Barrancabermeja, affecting soils and vegetation in the area. This attack was the second in the month and is added to the list that has been carried out since 2021 by the armed group of the ELN.

According to the impact this has on the environment, the economy and the public, the Police have conducted an investigation to determine how the guerrilla group is proceeding and how it managed to carry out the attacks without alerting the authorities. In this process, it was found that the Eln would be hiring residents of the area to commit attacks on oil infrastructure.

“As a result of what has happened historically through the attacks in Barrancabermeja, it has been identified that this is an 'outsourcing' in which they are simply hiring local people here in Barrancabermeja to develop this type of impact on the community in general,” said Colonel Alexander Sánchez, commander of the Magdalena Medio Police. The official added that this is a way of showing the dominance it has in the area and that its presence is relevant despite attempts by place against the illegal structure in the area.

A few weeks ago, the Government of Santander offered a million-dollar reward for information that would identify, locate and prosecute those responsible for the terrorist acts. “We cannot give way to more events like this, which is why we have allocated up to 50 million pesos to those who provide information that gives the authors of the event that occurred on the San Gil - El Socorro road this Wednesday morning,” the departmental president wrote on his Twitter account.

In addition, through a video he posted on his Twitter account, he rejected such violent acts in the department. “We reject the vandalism that occurred today in the corridor between the municipality of San Gil and Socorro, in which nine people were injured by an explosive device. From the early hours of the day I have instructed an extraordinary security council to be held so that, together with the authorities, there is clarity on this situation and to be able to find those responsible,” said Mauricio Aguilar Hurtado.

According to preliminary information from the authorities, during the night of Monday, March 14 and the early morning of Tuesday, March 15, there were several attacks and harassments against military units in some municipalities in the Catatumbo region in Norte de Santander, in the area bordering Venezuela.

The uniformed men were allegedly attacked with rifle bursts and fired explosive devices at them in the village of La Gabarra, in the rural area of the municipality of Tibú. While in rural areas of the municipality of San Calixto, clashes with unidentified illegal armed groups were reported, as reported on Caracol Radio. Faced with the situation, soldiers of the Vulcano task force were sent to La Gabarra who will support the uniformed who suffered the harassment.

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