Ecuador says 11 troops killed in attack by FARC dissidents
The Hindu
Ecuador military personnel killed by FARC guerrillas in anti-mining operation near Colombia border, sparking violence and unrest.
Ecuador said on Friday (May 9, 2025) that at least 11 military personnel who were carrying out an operation to combat illegal mining in a region near the border with Colombia were killed by dissident FARC guerrillas.
Some armed factions within FARC, once the largest guerrilla group in Latin America, have rejected its historic peace agreement made with the Colombian government in 2016.
Those splinter groups refuse to lay down their arms and pursue criminal activities like illegal drug trafficking and illegal mininig.
“Eleven soldiers have been killed and one wounded,” the Ecuadoran military said in a statement.
It said that dozens of military personnel had been involved in the operation and that the “ambush” had been carred out with explosives, grenades and firearms.
The office of the prosecutor, which earlier gave a toll of eight dead, said a criminal group called the Comandos de la Frontera was responsible for the attack in the eastern province of Orellana.
The group is involved in drug trafficking in the border region of Colombia and Ecuador.
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