At least 13 soldiers were injured in a major guerrilla attack on an army base in the east of Colombia on Tuesday.
The attack targeted a military base in Puerto Jordan, a village in the Arauca province.
According to the commander of the armed forces, Admiral Francisco Hernando Cubides, the attack would have been carried out by guerrilla group ELN, which controls parts of Arauca.
The ELN is looking for a way to draw attention so that the government will agree to their requests in the framework of the peace table, this criminal action uses unauthorized artifacts. We are reinforcing our presence in the Arauca sector to maintain the offensive against this group and restore peace to the people of Arauca.
Admiral Francisco Hernando Cubides
Images from the alleged attack site suggests that the guerrillas converted a dump truck into a launch pad, which allowed them to fire 12 projectiles at the base.
Soldiers trying to secure the area after the attack found the truck partly incinerated on a rural road in the vicinity of the base.
(Image: National Army)
The Defense Ministry said that minister Ivan Velasquez and the armed forces commander would travel to Arauca to inspect the attacked army base.
The soldiers that were injured in the attack were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
The attack took place weeks after the expiration of a ceasefire between the ELN and the security forces.
This ceasefire was meant to facilitate peace talks between the guerrillas and the government of President Gustavo Petro that have been on hold since February.
Arauca is one of the ELN’s historical strongholds and has been ravaged by decades of armed conflict between guerrillas and State security forces.
