“Guacho,” the leader of one of Colombia’s most violent FARC dissident group, has been “seriously injured” in a military operation, President Ivan Duque said Saturday.
The commander of the so-called Oliver Sinisterra Front (FOS) was “seriously injured” earlier in the day after being shot by a sniper of Colombia’s special forces in Tumaco, Nariño, the stronghold of Guacho’s rogue guerrilla group.
Following the alleged attack on one of Colombia’s most wanted persons, soldiers and policemen entered the area where Guacho allegedly was shot in the hope of capturing the FARC dissident leader.
According to newspaper El Tiempo, security forces began a “gigantic” military operation to avoid the allegedly injured Guacho from escaping the area where he was shot.
I hope in the next few hours to have conclusive news about this impeccable work of our Military and Police Forces.
President Ivan Duque
The military operation that allegedly injured Guacho took place in the vicinity of the border with Ecuador, which has also stepped up military operations to arrest or kill the feared guerrilla leader.
Guacho abandoned the peace process with the FARC in late 2016, rearmed and has since taken control over key drug trafficking routes on both sides of the jungle border region with the help of dozens of other dissident FARC members and the support of Mexican drug cartels.
‘Guacho,’ a public enemy in both Colombia and Ecuador
Since then, the former FARC guerrilla has kidnapped and killed at least five civilian hostages from Ecuador, and allegedly ordered the assassination of at least one community leader in Nariño.
The allegedly successful attack that allegedly resulted in at least the severe injuring of “Guacho” is the second major blow given to FARC dissidents in the area around Tumaco this month.
The leader of one of FOS’ main rival, “David” of the United Pacific Guerrillas, was killed in combat a week ago.
Following a peace deal between the administration of former President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC, multiple dissident factions formed, initially only in Tumaco and the jungle region in the south and southeast of Colombia.
Major irregularities and delays in the peace process, and in particular the reintegration process of the FARC’s demobilized combatants, have spurred the resurgence of tiny FARC dissident groups in the rest of the country.
State authorities have frantically tried to quell dissidence and the rearmament of dissident FARC guerrillas to prevent a similar mass rearmament of demobilized combatants as occurred after former President Alvaro Uribe demobilized paramilitary group AUC.
