The Colombian army killed 160 fighters close to Iván Mordisco, the country’s most wanted guerrilla, Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez assured Thursday in an interview with AFP.
Colombia, in the middle of the presidential campaign, is facing the worst outbreak of violence since the 2016 peace agreement providing for the disarmament of the FARC guerrillas.
Iván Mordisco, chief of the Central Staff (EMC), the main dissident faction of the former guerilla, is considered responsible for bloody car attacks, explosive drones, assassinations.
The guerrilla decreed a ceasefire for the presidential election, the second round of which scheduled for June 21 will see the candidate of the hard right Abelardo de la Espriella and the heir of the left in power Iván Cepeda.
“On May 31, we carried out a new attack against this criminal. A bombing which destroyed part of its protection circle. There are already more than 160 members who were very close to him,” Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez explained to AFP.
The guerrilla leader, given for dead on several occasions, is somewhere in the southeast of the Amazon, according to Mr. Sánchez who hopes for his imminent capture: “We will not rest until we have accomplished this mission.”
The government of left-wing President Gustavo Petro is offering nearly $1.4 million for information leading to the location of Iván Mordisco.
In April, his men murdered 21 people in an explosive attack on a road in the southwest of the country, the worst attack against civilians in 20 years.
The Colombian president has tried, unsuccessfully, to achieve peace with all of the country’s armed groups, which are fighting to control revenues from drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion.
If the Minister of Defense recognizes “security challenges”, he denies being at the heart of an “unprecedented era” concerning violence.
He highlights the development by the army of drones equipped with grenade launchers, already used to combat according to him.
Security is one of the main concerns of voters in the presidential election.
Candidates for the post have been placed under high protection since the assassination last year of right-wing candidate Miguel Uribe.
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