Drone strike on Colombian base kills three soldiers, ELN blamed
A drone-delivered explosive attack on a military compound in Ocaña, Norte de Santander, killed three Colombian soldiers and wounded four, with authorities accusing the ELN.
In the early hours of Friday, a drone-borne bomb hit a Colombian military compound in Ocaña, a municipality in the Norte de Santander department that borders Venezuela. The strike killed two soldiers on site and a third later in hospital, while four others sustained injuries. Colombia’s army and local officials placed responsibility on the National Liberation Army (ELN), a rebel movement that has operated in the Catatumbo region since the 1960s. President Abelardo de la Espriella denounced the attack and promised to deploy the full weight of state force against the perpetrators.
The area is strategically important, linking to a porous frontier with Venezuela and serving as a major coca-production hub contested by ELN and breakaway FARC groups. The incident follows an August explosion outside a police station in Cucuta that injured eleven officers and killed a police dog, also blamed on the ELN, and a recent car bomb that killed a civilian and injured eleven near another police post.
Why it matters
The attack highlights escalating guerrilla violence in a volatile border region that fuels Colombia's drug trade and threatens security.
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