Pasto – Nariño
The humanitarian emergency experienced in different municipalities of Nariño is increasingly serious after the escalation of violence due to armed confrontations between three armed structures: ELN, FARC dissidents and the United Self-Defense Forces of Nariño (AUN).
According to the latest report, In the mountain area alone, nearly six thousand displaced families are registered, adding up to a total of twelve thousand in the entire department.. Samaniego, La Llanada, Leiva, Cumbitara and Policarpa are some of the municipalities from which families have had to leave.
“Let them cease their hostilities and allow the families to leave (..) The people are not to blame for their bad war, in which they are fighting for their businesses, they should stop killing” Said the governor of Nariño Luis Alfonso Escobar.
In dialogue with Snail Radio, General Erick Rodríguez, head of the Southwestern Joint Command No. 2, assured that A ground operations battalion with nearly 300 men was deployed in the area with the objective of attacking the armed structures that are developing confrontations for control of the territory and illegal economies.
“They are fighting for control of the region where there are important gold depositsthat’s why those structures are there (..) we have already started operations, We have troops in the municipality of Cumbitara, and we are advancing. I hope to make progress in the coming days.” said General Rodríguez on Caracol Radio’s Afternoon Newscast.
During the recent security council chaired by the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, in Nariño, The arrival of a thousand soldiers to this department was announced, however, these would not arrive in the short term, according to what General Rodríguez told Caracol Radio.
The objective of these soldiers is to reach the territories where families are still confined so that they can be provided with humanitarian care.
“The 16,000 plan is a plan that will generate a significant increase in the Army’s strength. It is scheduled to be gradual and in fact the first platoons have already begun to arrive. but forming professional soldiers is something that takes training time. There is already a timeline and this will help change the panorama in the territory in the coming months” clarified General Rodríguez.
