Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Photo: EFE.
Following the attack that occurred on Tuesday, which left two dead and 27 wounded, at the Puerto Jordán military base, in the department of Arauca, Colombia, President Gustavo Petro suspended the dialogue process with the National Liberation Army (ELN). The government attributed the attack on the military base to the ELN.
“This is obviously an action that practically closes a peace process with blood,” said Petro after announcing that the dialogue with the ELN was closed.
Meanwhile, the Colombian Army announced that the ELN was responsible for the attack because it has a presence in the territory where the violent events occurred, according to the news agency Telesur.
A statement from the Eighth Division of the Colombian National Army, under the operational command of Joint Command number four OrinoquĂa, reported that in the morning of this Tuesday, September 17, “the command post of the 18th Field Artillery Battalion, located in Puerto Jordán, Arauquita, Arauca department, received an attack with improvised explosive devices launched from a dump truck.”
The statement also remarked that 21 soldiers were affected by shrapnel but that their lives were not in danger.
In this regard, the statement of the Colombian military also mentioned that the troops at the command post reacted to the attack and captured “two individuals who were apparently traveling on two motorcycles that accompanied the dump truck at the time of the attack. These individuals are now under the jurisdiction of the competent authority for their judicial process.”
“This terrorist attack, attributed to the organized armed group ELN, Domingo LaĂn Sáenz War Front, was carried out near a school, which put the lives of minors at risk, and constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and a serious breach of international humanitarian law,” the Colombian Army added.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
