Army thwarted two terrorist attacks in Norte de Santander

The National Army reported that, in less than 24 hours, they managed to thwart two terrorist actions in two municipalities in the department of Norte de Santander, Catatumbo area, which were reportedly launched by members of the National Liberation Army (ELN).

As reported to RCN Radio by the commander of the Vulcano Task Force, Colonel Diego Jaramillo Muñoz, the first case occurred in the municipality of La Gabarra, in the rural area of the municipality of Tibú, where army uniforms defused a group of bomb cylinders.

The officer explained to the station that the explosive devices had been installed just a few meters from a slaughter plant, in the vicinity of which there are also peasant homes and a fishing and sand extraction area of the Catatumbo River. He therefore pointed out that, if the bomb cylinders had not been intervened, the civilian population of the municipality would have been affected.

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In an interview with RCN News, the commander of the Vulcano Task Force added that the intervention of the explosive devices was made possible by members of the Second Division of the Army, who arrived at the scene after being alerted by the community.

The second attack that the National Army prevented was in the municipality of Convención, where members of the ELN installed an explosive device a few meters from the municipal Agrarian Bank, as reported by the military institution in a statement.

Next, the military institution assured that “it will continue to work against any threat that alters the tranquility and integrity of the inhabitants of this region.”

On the night of this Wednesday, March 23, armed men, allegedly belonging to FARC dissidents, attacked the police station of the municipality of Teorama, in the department of Norte de Santander for about 40 minutes.

In videos shared through social networks, the guerrilla fights fired at the police station are heard by the guerrillas, while some of these subversives are being observed entering the urban area.

In addition to the armed attack, it was also known that, in the midst of the harassment, the guerrillas abandoned near the municipal mayor's office a cylinder that apparently contained explosives.

Preliminary information known by Semana magazine indicated that, at the moment, no injuries or fatalities are reported after the armed attack. However, the authorities reported that several houses near the scene of the incident resulted in damage to their facades.

Here is the video of the armed attack in Teorama, Norte de Santander:

This Wednesday, March 23, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) presented its report “Humanitarian Challenges 2022″, in which it warned that, during 2021, violence and armed conflict intensified in Colombia.

According to the report, one of the violent events that increased the most during the past year was attacks with explosive devices, since, according to the report, the number of victims increased by 24% compared to 2020.

In total, 486 victims of these devices were reported nationwide, of which 137 were reported in Norte de Santander, followed by Arauca, with 131, and Chocó with 38. The ICRC report also noted that, of these 486 victims, 258 were civilians.

In the document, the international organization concluded that this number of victims of explosive ordnance in Colombia during 2021 was the highest recorded in the country in the last five years.

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