Massacre in Putumayo: FARC dissidents targeted by the military operation reportedly fled to Ecuador

After it was confirmed that eleven civilians died in the controversial operation of the National Army in the village of Alto Remanso, in the municipality of Puerto Leguizamo ( department of Putumayo), in recent hours it became known that the criminals targeted by the shooting were taking refuge in Ecuador.

This was announced by the Army of that country in a document revealed by RCN News, in which it is evident that several members of the FARC dissent known as Comandos de la Frontera had fled to the border nation to get rid of justice.

The text, originating from the 55th Jungle Battalion of the neighboring country's military forces, says that when the shooting occurred in Colombian territory, they found elements that would show that dissidents passed by to hide in Ecuador.

According to the news report, the army led by Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso found a canteen that would have bullet impacts, as well as military material such as 5.56 mm ammunition and other garments such as sacks and shorts that would be distinctive of the aforementioned armed group.

Moreover, RCN News says that the foreign military also found the ID of a Colombian man identified as Jairo Alexander, a native of Tumaco, Nariño. The news report says that it does not reveal the subject's surname; however, they say that his height is 1.65 tall.

All this information is already in the archives of the Colombian Army, led by Colonel Eduardo Zapateiro. Ecuadorian military forces handed over this evidence after the controversy aroused in the country, when the national public forces were questioned for killing citizens for wanting to capture thugs as alias 'Bruno'.

For now, the Colombian Army has not issued any pronouncement on this new information. However, that evidence adds to the support that their Ecuadorian counterparts expressed this week after questioning in the country.

The Ecuadorian Army assured that it shares the same concerns of its Colombian peers and that it supports General Eduardo Zapateiro. The commander of that institution, Luis Enrique Burbano, stressed that criminal acts affecting that area of Colombia have an 'incidental effect' on the border with Ecuador.

“We share the same concern of the Colombian authorities, about the presence of illegal groups in the border areas of both countries that are affecting public order,” the official said.

The high command of the Ecuadorian public forces stressed that it will reinforce actions to prevent any violent attitude from Colombian criminal gangs settled near the border. “The chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces has made arrangements to the Ecuadorian Army units on the northern border to redouble their efforts in our territory in order to prevent these violent acts of the group called Commandos de la Frontera from affecting the security of citizens living in the bordering areas”, he stressed.

It should be recalled that this week, the UN Human Rights Office in Colombia questioned the military operation carried out in the Alto Remanso Village in Puerto Leguizamo. The entity asked the Prosecutor's Office to “conduct a thorough investigation” and to take “all disciplinary and criminal measures to prosecute and punish those responsible for what happened.”

“On March 28, in Alto Remanso, an operation carried out by several military units would have started in which firearms were used, while 30 to 50 people were in the bazaar, including children and women (...) As a result of the military operation and the use of lethal force, at least eleven people were killed in Alto Remanso and five more were injured”, the statement read.

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