In recent statements, General Luis Ospina, commander of the Colombian National Army, addressed the latest attacks in the department of Cauca, perpetrated by FARC dissidents, which resulted in the death of six soldiers.
Over the course of the last week, these hostile actions intensified, in response to ongoing military operations, as explained by General Ospina, in conversations with the W Radio.
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“My job is not to be in the media, it is to be with the troops and we were there… We had three events: the first of them, the helicopter accident; Later, we had the situation of the figures of some investigations on ammunition issues, and later these combats,” he responded to the question of why, days after this confrontation, he spoke out on the matter, in conversation with the W Radio.
General Ospina revealed that difficult circumstances, such as atmospheric problems, complicated military operations, as well as the use of tactics such as hiding the bodies of fallen soldiers during combat to protect them from desecration, a strategy imposed by the difficult situation in field. General Ospina contradicted the accusations of abandonment of troops, ensuring that, despite facing more than a hundred men in the rural area of El Plateado, communications and commitment with the soldiers never ceased..
“We lost six men, four initially who were victims of attacks and where we had atmospheric difficulties… and in Silvia the launches of some tatucos and two more soldiers killed… We never gave up… We swore and it is not in vain, there we were united and we never lost communication, we had the difficulty of time to be able to enter the points, there was a dispersion of our men and the enemy took advantage of the circumstances”Ospina explained about the accusations of abandoning his soldiers.
Additionally, the report addressed additional challenges faced by the army, including blockades and pressure exerted by representatives of FARC dissidents in San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá, which hindered operations against drug laboratories in the Llanos del Yarí. These events, along with the worrying installation of antipersonnel mines in areas declared free of these devices, demonstrate the complex security dynamics in the country.
“They are tactical measures, It was an offensive withdrawal, the troops were in this task, with three bodies and one wounded it was very difficult to reorganize, the captain made the decision to hide the bodies, they went out and reorganized, they report that they have the bodies stored, But it was not expected that the bandits would find them, one of those who was murdered dies because we were not able to get him out.”
The conversation with General Ospina sheds light on the many facets of the fight against illegal armed groups in Colombia, adaptive military strategies in response to insurgent tactics, and the challenges in protecting human rights in the confusing theater of armed conflict.
“It has been a week in which the attack by these groups has intensified, but it is also proportional to the operations that we have been carrying out,” Ospina mentioned in conversations with the W Radio.
