MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Four Colombian soldiers killed by dissident FARC group

A fifth soldier was wounded during the engagement

Four Colombian regular soldiers were killed in a rural area of the department of Meta after they were ambushed by a group of dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Omega Joint Task Force said in a statement.

The servicemen were carrying out search and control activities, it was also reported. A fifth soldier was wounded during the engagement.

Colombian military sources reported Wednesday that the attackers belonged to a group of FARC dissidents.

The soldiers killed in the attack, a first sergeant and three professional soldiers, belonged to Troops of the Rapid Deployment Force No. 1 who “were indiscriminately attacked with explosive devices and rifle fire,” the statement pointed out.

The Army also singled out the particular rogue group behind the incident as that under the command of Miguel Botache Santillana, alias Gentil Duarte.

Colombian authorities have also said the attack “constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and infringement of International Humanitarian Law.”

The FARC dissidents are made up of people who broke away from the peace agreement signed between the Colombian government and that guerrilla group in 2016.

In a related event, Colombian authorities have arrested a group of Ecuadorian nationals suspected of supplying weapons, explosives, ammunition, and other elements from Peru and Ecuador to FARC dissident terrorists who commit crimes in southwest Colombia.

During the arrest made in Santander de Quilichao, department of Cauca, some 100 electric detonators which, apparently, were going to be delivered to alias 'Cholinga' or 'David', leader of the armed group 'Dagoberto Ramos Ortiz'.

Additionally, according to the Attorney General's Office, the two suspects tried to buy their way out by bribing the arresting officers.