More than 1600 soldiers have been killed by anti-personnel mines in Colombia since 2003

In a report by the Army's National Center Against Explosive Ordnance and Mines (CENAM) for the commemoration of the International Day for Awareness against Antipersonnel Mines (April 4), it stated that between 2003 and March 2022, 1,698 soldiers have died from these devices.

So far this year, eight soldiers have been killed and 56 have been injured.

According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace, between January 1990 and January 2022 there were 12,152 victims of these devices, whose use violates International Humanitarian Law and violates Human Rights. According to the entity, from this regrettable statistic, 7,286 of those injured or killed are members of the security forces and 4,866 are part of the civilian population, of which 11,545 are victims of anti-personnel mines.

Professional soldier Brayan Jair Gueitio, a victim of these improvised explosive devices, who on August 29, 2020 stepped on an anti-personnel mine that shattered his right foot while he was conducting military operations in Tumaco, Nariño.

The soldier recalls this regrettable episode because it was dramatic for him and his relatives, “that was a very hard time, I thought a lot about my family, I thought a lot about God and about enduring until they could transfer me to a hospital. At that time my companions in the midst of sadness proceeded to enter where I had been lying to give me first aid. My foot was hung up on nothing. This gave my family very hard.”

Currently, Private Gueitio belongs to the League of Athletes with Disabilities where he practices the discipline of adapted fencing and one of his dreams is to enter a university to study business administration and thus continue his comprehensive rehabilitation process.

Between 2003 and 2022, the Army has neutralized 285,192 explosive devices in the country, of which 3,496 have been so far this year.

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