Bogotá, Jul 17 (EFE) .- The Colombian public force killed alias “Roque”, head of a FARC dissident front that operates in Catatumbo, in the northeast of the country, the Government announced this Sunday.
“Alias ’Roque’, leader of the GAOR (Residual Organized Armed Group) E-33 of the Farc dissidents in Tibú, Norte de Santander, fell,” said the president of Colombia, Iván Duque, in a message on his Twitter account .
According to the president, “this criminal intended to frighten the civilian population and was neutralized thanks to the joint and coordinated work of our public force.”
The Army and the Police carried out the operation on Saturday night in the urban area of Tibú, where “Roque” operated as leaders of the urban militias, according to Major General Omar Esteban Sepúlveda.
According to local media, alias “Roque” was the one who directed the urban patrols of the 33rd Front in this town, and the capture occurred after videos circulated last Thursday of dissidents dressed in camouflage clothing and dissident armbands posing in front of the Municipal Mayor’s Office of Tibú, implying its control over the territory.
In other municipalities of Catatumbo, other videos have also circulated of dissident groups or the National Liberation Army (ELN) walking through the streets or entering bars and pool halls, greeting and intimidating the population.
Tibú is part of Catatumbo, a region that covers 10,089 square kilometers, mostly jungle, in Norte de Santander.
In that area there is a presence of the ELN guerrillas and FARC dissidents, as well as a redoubt of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) and other gangs that clash over corridors for drug trafficking and coca crops.
Other municipalities that make up Catatumbo are Ábrego, El Tarra, Sardinata, El Carmen, Convención, Teorama, San Calixto, Hacarí and La Playa.
EFE
