Drone Strikes Surge in Colombia, Raising Civilian Safety Concerns

In July 2024, a drone loosed an explosive onto a soccer field in El Plateado, killing ten-year-old Dilan Camilo Erazo Yela and injuring 12 others, among them an 11-year-old with a chest wound and a 2-year-old diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Colombian army attributed the attack to the Jacobo Arenas Western Bloc of the Central General Staff, a faction of former FARC fighters that later acknowledged the strike as accidental.

ACLED records reveal a sharp increase in drone usage, rising from one incident in 2023 to 149 in 2025, with several lethal attacks on police and military targets within Colombia. Analysts say armed groups are repurposing inexpensive, consumer-grade drones with grenades, learning from both Mexican cartel operations and the Ukraine war. The spread of this tactic has prompted calls for improved training, stricter regulations, and technological countermeasures, though some groups are already employing fiber-optic-linked drones that evade jamming. The growing civilian toll underscores the urgency for regional security forces to adapt to this evolving threat.