New clashes in Algeria, Cauca, kill 14

The Colombian national army has confirmed that, since the morning of this Saturday, April 17, new clashes between members of the public force and members of FARC dissidents in the municipality of Algeria, in Cauca. The fighting has already left eleven people unloaded.

The confirmation came from the army commander, General Eduardo Enrique Zapateiro, who, via his Twitter account, reported that “units of the third division of the army are reporting fighting in Plateado, Algeria, Cauca. Ten members of GAO-r Carlos Patiño were neutralized ”.

From the third division They also said the other deceased was an Army NCO, in addition to seven other wounded soldiers and an Air Force Black Hawk helicopter. who was hit by a grenade. For his part, Zapateiro denounced that several people had decided to move the bodies of dissidents irregularly, “interfering in the urgent actions of the competent authorities”.

Moments later, the Defense Ministry issued a message correcting that there were not ten but 14 dissident members who had been killed in action. Likewise, he reported that the deceased soldier was Third Corporal Diego Ricardo Gómez Chávez. Likewise, the mayor of Algeria confirmed that the fighting had caused the displacement of 150 people.

The damage, added the general, is due to the fact that “troops, seeking to protect the community, were attacked by the indiscriminate use of explosive devices“. However, they were able to take advantage of the situation by not only emerging victorious from the fight, but also by grabbing a machine gun, three long guns, three short weapons and a considerable amount of ammunition. Likewise, they received an alleged member of the aforementioned criminal structure, who will submit to justice.

According to several local media reports, such as Últimas Hora Cauca and Sucesos Cauca, theThe fighting started around 5:30 a.m. and they forced members of the army to transfer their wounded to the University Hospital of San José de Popayán. Four of them have already been released from the hospital, two are under observation and one entered the intensive care unit.

For his part, social leader Walter Aldana explained to El Espectador that the clashes are part of the gross conflict in which these two forces and at least six others are involved. including the National Liberation Army, ELN, throughout the department of Cauca, where car bombs were also recorded – in Caorinto – and even murders of members of the CTI of the prosecution – in Caloto -.

“What exists today in the department of Cauca is the presence of eight or ten illegal armed groups which, in the territories, manage an exercise of power and domination. They fight among themselves this territorial domain. But whoever is in the time that is, is the authority over the territory. For more than a year, since before the pandemic, we have had a curfew from 7 o’clock in the evening, ”he told this point of sale.

We must not forget that the upsurge in violence has been recorded since the end of March, when the streets and even the central square of the El Plateado district were seen. clashes between the residual structure Carlos Patiño and the José María Becerra front of the ELN.

As Juan Manuel Torres of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation told RCN Radio, “what was experienced was a fight in the streets of the city, with long guns, with grenades, with tattoos“. For this reason, “hundreds” of people fled to other sidewalks, townships and even to the seat of the municipality, in search of refuge. For this, the churches of the municipality were mainly used.

According to the Ombudsman’s Office, the clash which began on Friday March 26 lasted until the following Saturday afternoon, and resulted in the massive displacement of at least 2,000 people.

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