Since the early hours of this Tuesday, June 27, 2023, strong clashes have been taking place between members of the National Army and members of the illegal armed structure of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Arauca.
The troops of the eighteenth Brigade of the National Army would have managed to locate one of the camps of the criminal group in the rural area of the department in question. That, apparently, was the reason why the crossfire broke out.
This was confirmed by the newspaper El Tiempo, which also revealed that the camp would be part of the ELN’s Guerra Oriental front, which also operates on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
According to information revealed by the aforementioned outlet, so far the confrontation between the Army and the ELN in Arauca has left seven deaths, all from the illegal structure.
According to what is known, no deaths have been recorded by the military forces and no soldiers have been reported injured in the middle of the combat. However, it is noteworthy that the confrontation continues in that area of the country.
More troops and units of the Joint Command of Special Operations (Coes) of the National Army are also being transferred to the place where the camp was found, with the help of helicopters.
Likewise, a group made up of members of the Judicial Police, the Dijín and the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Attorney General’s Office is already being prepared to enter the point where the casualties were recorded.
Officials are expected to carry out the respective procedures to remove the corpses and later they will be transferred to a headquarters of the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences.
Despite the fact that seven ELN members have already been reported killed during the confrontation, it was warned that the number could increase in the next few hours, taking into account that the crossfire continues.
Officials kidnapped by the ELN in Bolívar are released
The Ombudsman’s Office confirmed the release of the five officials from the Santa Rosa del Sur Mayor’s Office, in Bolívar, who were under the control of the National Liberation Army (ELN) for 17 days. The news was known on Monday, June 26, 2023.
The kidnapped municipal administration workers were identified as Vladimir Díaz Ravelo, Secretary of Mobility; Anyi Lorena Roa, social communication practitioner at the University of Pamplona; and transit agents Arnold Delgado Quitian, Dany Tuesta Reyes and Andrey Martínez.
It is noteworthy that the five people, who were illegally detained by the criminal structure, were in a community training session when the kidnapping occurred. The events occurred in a sector known as “La Y” in Santa Rosa del Sur.
The officials were released after the ELN claimed responsibility for the act and requested a humanitarian corridor to release the kidnapped men and women.
The loved ones of the kidnapped had the opportunity to go to this land and establish a dialogue with the captors, who finally agreed to return them to their homes.
“Thank the Ombudsman and the Catholic Church for the humanitarian corridor that allows us to return to freedom and to our families,” said one of the kidnapped, with a broken voice, while holding a flag of the entity.
It is worth remembering that it was the same mayor of the mentioned municipality who at the time denounced the kidnapping.
“So far there has been no communication, no verified data, there has been no pronouncement by the captor group, the justification is unknown, the reason for things is unknown. What we do know is that there are five officials from the municipal administration who were fulfilling a mission to train and educate the community,” the president told Blu Radio at the time. with Infobae
