A leader of Colombia’s second largest rebel group, the ELN, has been killed in a clash with the Colombian army in the northwestern department of Antioquia, local media reported on Thursday.
Alias “Victor,” or “El Negro,” was killed by Colombian state forces in the Amalfi municipality, some 60 miles northeast of Colombia’s second largest city, Medellin.
According to reports, Victor was the commander of the ELN’s “Captain Mauricio Front,” which operates in the mountainous border areas between the Antioquia and Cordoba departments. Police accused the rebel of having killed seven soldiers and four policemen between 2007 and 2012. In addition, he was suspected of kidnapping a forest engineer in 2012.
Victor had, at the time of his death, been a member of the left-wing insurgency for 15 years. He reportedly served as an explosives expert, medic and radioman. The army said Victor was involved in extortion against the mining industry in the northeastern part of Antioquia.
The ELN, with some 1,500 armed members, has been fighting the Colombian state since 1964.
