Colombia says ELN rebels killed 2 police officers as they protest US military build up
BOGOTA, Colombia — BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian police reported on Tuesday that two officers were tragically killed in the city of Cali in an attack carried out by the National Liberation Army, a rebel group that intensified its assaults against the government this week.
According to authorities, the officers were on patrol in a neighborhood on motorcycles when they were struck by a roadside bomb. Despite being rushed to a nearby hospital, they succumbed to their injuries.
The National Liberation Army, also known as ELN, initiated a 72-hour “armed strike” on Sunday in protest of the increasing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean.
During these strikes, schools and businesses are forced to shut down in regions under the group’s influence, while the rebels intensify attacks on government facilities.
The ELN has not yet claimed responsibility for the Cali attack.
On the previous day, Colombia’s human rights ombudswoman disclosed that the group had assaulted a police station and a military base over the weekend as part of their armed strike. These assaults took place in provinces bordering Venezuela and led to the death of an ambulance driver.
The Colombian government has criticized the Trump administration’s actions to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, including deploying U.S. warships and fighter jets near Venezuela’s coast.
Recently, President Gustavo Petro condemned the Trump administration’s seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast, labeling it as an act of “piracy.”
However, Colombian officials stated on Monday that the ELN’s opposition to U.S. intervention is baseless as it targets both rural and urban communities within Colombia.
The ELN, a Marxist group influenced by the Cuban revolution, is estimated to have around 6,000 members in Venezuela and Colombia.
Accusations have been made against the ELN for operating illegal mines and drug trafficking networks in both countries, as well as supporting Venezuela’s leader Maduro.
Petro, a former member of a different rebel group in his youth, has made efforts to engage in peace talks with the ELN. However, negotiations were halted in January following a series of attacks by the group in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, displacing over 50,000 individuals.
Petro has accused the ELN of straying from its original revolutionary principles, dubbing them as a group of “drug traffickers masquerading as guerrillas.”
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