Ecuadorean armed forces found eight new FARC camps on their side of the border with Colombia, an Ecuadorean general told newspaper El Comercio.
General Hugo Villegas, commander of Amazon Operations Commandos of the Ecuadorean army, told the newspaper that “last year, we found old, deserted camps, but also eight new bases. These types of bases weren’t camps, but temporary sites that have no infrastructure whatsoever.”
Villegas stressed that the Ecuadorean army in the border area is constantly looking “for any kind of leader or personnel” of Colombian illegal armed groups, as that this is “part of our mission. The patrols are permanent.”
The Ecuadorean army last week received thanks from Colombia’s Defense Minister Gabriel Silva for its operations in border areas, that lead to the death of at least ten members of the FARC on both sides of the border.
Security along the 450-mile border has been an issue for years as illegal armed groups from Colombia cross the border to escape from Colombian armed forces or transport drugs into Ecuador.
Following a Colombian attack on a FARC camp in Ecuador in March 2008, relations between the countries were frozen and both Colombia and Ecuador accused the other of neglecting the border zone. The two countries agreed to improve relations and cooperation at the border in September 2009.
