September 20, 2024, 10:08 PM
September 20, 2024, 10:08 PM
The National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group claimed responsibility this Friday (09/20/2024) for the attack on a military base in the Colombian department of Arauca that left three dead and 26 injured and for which the Government suspended peace talks with that group.
The Eastern War Front, which is the most active and numerous of the ELN, said in a statement that last Tuesday “they attacked the military canton of the Quirón Task Force, located in Puerto Jordán de Arauquita, Arauca, a military fort located in the center of the department was attacked with their own artillery (sic).”
The Colombian government confirmed on Wednesday that peace talks with the ELN “are suspended” following the bomb attack carried out by the guerrilla group against the military base.
As a result of that attack, First Sergeant Fabio Andrés Zúñiga died on Thursday. Due to the severity of his injuries, he could not be transferred to Bogotá. This brought the number of soldiers killed to three, with 26 wounded.
In today’s statement, the ELN says that the attack is “legitimate” because the military base is supposedly “protecting and guarding” members of a criminal gang led by alias “Pescao” who “is used (by the military) for their mercenary plan as paramilitaries.”
The Eastern Front’s statement also stated that its “intelligence” is aware that in the attack on the base there were “more than 30 casualties among officers, non-commissioned officers and professional soldiers, including dead and wounded.”
Additionally, the ELN assured that it has complied with the agreements reached with the Government in the peace negotiations that began in November 2022 in Caracas.
According to the guerrilla group, “it unilaterally extended the ceasefire for one year, until August 23, and the government continued to fail to comply, underestimating our willingness to resume peace talks, allowing Otty Patiño (Colombian peace commissioner) to continue with his ‘pro-American’ task of keeping our country tied to plans for perpetual war.”
Regarding the talks, ELN commander Eliécer Herlinto Chamorro, alias ‘Antonio García’, said that the peace process with the Colombian government can continue even though there is no ceasefire.
García recalled that the one-year ceasefire, which expired on August 3, “could not be extended and in the context of seeking solutions, the Minister of Defense and the Commander of the Armed Forces ordered the resumption of offensive operations against the ELN.”
