Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said Wednesday it is possible that two people killed in a Colombian raid on a FARC camp in the department of Nariño were Ecuadorean, reports EFE.
One of the victims, a child, was originally thought to be Ecuadorean, but Colombia said the body was found with a Colombian identity card. Correa is now requesting further investigation into the nationality of the 12-year-old.
“Initally it was said that he was Colombian with an Ecuadorean refugee identification card. I have ordered a case report and the first steps of that report, but I want to be definite,” Correa said. “This has to do with an Ecuadorean child, and not just one, but two Ecuadoreans that have died in this bombing.”
Colombian authorities believe that the minor was forced to join the FARC against his will.
The raid was carried out on the camp of the 48th Front of the FARC in Ipiales, Nariño department, close to the Ecuadorean border.
In 2008, Ecuador broke diplomatic ties with Colombia after a Colombian armed forces operation against a FARC camp in Ecuadorean territory killed an Ecuadorean citizen. The two countries have restored relations, but the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is currently investigating a complaint Ecuador made against its neighboring country for the killing.
Colombian Foreign Minister Angela Holguin is meeting Wednesday with her Ecuadorean counterpart and said she will provide him with all the information she has regarding the situation.
Holguin also said Tuesday that Colombia would “follow the processes established by the IAHCR.”
