A new criminal act of the National Liberation Army against the public force was reportedly committed in the department of Arauca. Members of that guerrilla would have stolen the food supply sent to three battalions in the eastern part of the country.
The incident occurred when three trucks loaded with approximately 40 tons of food for the National Army were intercepted by armed men from the ELN insurgency, on the road that leads from the capital of the department to the municipality of Saravena.
The shipment was supplies for the Instruction and Training Battalion (Saravena), the Revéis Pizarro Battalion (Saravena) and the Vial 18 Energy Battalion (Cubará – Boyacá), according to local media outlet La Voz del Cinaruco. These would have been left without the corresponding supply.
The vehicles reportedly ended up at an illegal guerrilla checkpoint, which ordered them to stop, forced the drivers to get out and stole the cargo. Later they would have allowed the drivers to take the trucks back and they arrived at their destination without the cargo.
The facts were confirmed by the National Army, which indicated that the theft occurred on March 1. The supply caravan did not have a military escort, because this figure is not handled so as not to generate greater risks in the areas through which they transit.
The Logistics Agency of the National Army confirmed that once the facts were known, the insurance that contractually protected the cargo became effective, so the units were supplied during the following days. For now, the Eighth Division will release a statement about what happened.
Although the ELN and the Government are taking steps towards a future bilateral ceasefire with the public forces, there is no truce in force. The insurgent delegation maintains that they have reduced hostilities, but there is no commitment to avoid confrontations.
President Gustavo Petro referred to this situation that seeks to generate relief in the acts of violence in the negotiations with the insurgency. “Here what it is about is de-escalating the violence, it is progressive, with the ELN that has been affirmed, less and less violence until a ceasefire is signed,” he said on the official Colombia Hoy program.
In that area of the country there have been various acts of violence by that insurgent organization so far this year. There was the kidnapping of Deputy Sergeant Libey Danilo Bravo, held in Arauca on the night of Tuesday, February 14, who was released until March 8.
Likewise, there have been attacks against oil pipelines and threats against their operation which, according to Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, led to the closure of well operations in areas such as Tame and Saravena, which have affected families who work in those areas. extractive fields, economic losses and putting energy supply at risk.
On the night of February 13, after presumed members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) attacked members of the Army in the rural area of Saravena (Arauca), which resulted in a strong conflagration in the village of El Consuelo.
The insurgents would have attacked the military with explosive devices when they were guarding the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline, although none of them would have been seriously injured after the attack, in the midst of a wave of armed harassment that has occurred in the last two weeks in that eastern part of the country.
In the municipality of Tame, the retention and theft of the weapons of a group of bodyguards from the National Protection Unit assigned to the security scheme of the peace signatory Pastor Alape, who reportedly appeared on March 8 by ELN members. with Infobae