“His criminal act is like this, in civilian clothes”: Army defended military operation that left 11 dead in Putumayo

In the last hours, the commander of the National Army, General Eduardo Zapateiro, spoke out to defend the legitimacy and legality of the operation carried out by the institution on March 28 in the village of El Remanso, in the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, Putumayo, in which 11 people died.

Through a video shared on his official Twitter account, General Zapateiro assured that the operation was planned against a dangerous illegal armed group that, among other things, has caused forced displacement, assassinations in the region, among others.

Next, General Zapateiro added that the launch of the operation was also directly related to the 27 armed confrontations that, he said, have occurred between the 'Carolina Ramírez' fronts, under the command of 'Iván Mordisco', and other border commandos led by 'Iván Márquez', the which have caused great suffering to the population.

“So far in 2021 and 2022, they have caused confinements, displacement and mobility restrictions and, in the last five years, they have killed more than a hundred of their own members,” said the senior commander of the National Army.

In context: Identified 8 of the 11 people who died in the operation in Putumayo

In response to reports made by various entities about the deaths of civilians during the military operation, General Zapateiro insisted that the action was carried out against the dissidents of the FARC's 48th Front, which, he argued, operate in civilian clothing, in order to prevent actions against them by the Force Public.

In this regard, General Zapteiro reiterated the need for the operation, because, in the last two years alone, he indicated, the civilian population of Puerto Leguizamo has been the victims of 271 attacks.

You can also read: President Duque denies deaths of civilians at the hands of the security forces in operations in Putumayo

The high representative of the military institution pointed out that the operation was planned “because it has a very important historical background and it is the constitutional obligation to act within the framework of our missionality”.

Here is the full intervention of General Zapateiro:

The Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, also referred again to the military operation in Puerto Leguizamo, about which he assured, like Commander Zapateiro, that among the people killed there were no civilians.

In a later trill, Molano shared images of the weaponry that allegedly had been seized during the operation of the National Army, carried out in southern Colombia. “The “innocent civilians” were seized: war arsenal; grenades, rifles, suppliers, cartridges, among others. A call to candidates: it's not all about politics. Military operations comply with all required protocols”, concluded the head of the Defence portfolio.

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