Within the framework of the investigation carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office in relation to the terrorist action that occurred on March 29 in El Carmen (Norte de Santander), in which 10 members of the Special Energy and Road Battalion No. 10 of the National Army, the team of prosecutors that took on the case arranged to summon the Minister of National Defense, Iván Velásquez Gómez, for a sworn statement.
The Prosecutor’s Office announced that the commander of the Military Forces, Major General Helder Fernán Giraldo Bonilla, was also summoned to testify; the commander of the National Army, Major General Luis Mauricio Ospina Gutiérrez; and the head of the National Army’s Energy Operational Command in Norte de Santander, Colonel Jhon Freddy Correa González.
The diligence will be carried out on May 2, with the purpose of obtaining elements of knowledge that allow clarity on the military actions carried out by the members of the National Army against the criminal organizations that have interference in the territory of Catatumbo where the attack took place.
Similarly, as part of the methodological program defined to advance in the clarification of this criminal act, on April 18, the Chief of the National Army Operations Staff, Brigadier General Fredy Marlon Coy Villamil; the commander of the Second Division of the National Army, Brigadier General Nayro Javier Martínez Jiménez; and the commander of the Specific Command of the National Army in Norte de Santander, Brigadier General Ricardo Roque Salcedo.
This attack was carried out by the ELN guerrillas, which caused repudiation not only for the crime committed by the young men in uniform, but also because this organization has been in talks with the government since last November in an effort to eventually reach a “peace agreement.”
The uniformed men were attacked by the ELN at 3:00 am, when they were resting in their hammocks.
Nine soldiers lost their lives in the attack, and one more died days later in a care center due to the seriousness of his injuries.
In addition, nine soldiers were injured, in one of the most violent attacks by that guerrilla so far in the government of Gustavo Petro.