Colombia claims major blow in El Peñol: Seven Farc dissidents killed and five captured in Nariño

Colombia’s government presented the operation in El Peñol, Nariño, as a forceful strike against the Franco Benavides front, a group linked to the Central General Staff of Farc dissidents. The army said seven alleged members were killed and five others captured during the offensive in the country’s southwest.

The Defense Ministry said 12 people were injured in clashes in the rural area and that troops recovered one body. After securing the site, military units reported seizing an M4 rifle, a pistol, four magazines, 946 rounds of ammunition in different calibers and eight homemade grenades.

The seized material also included clothing bearing Colombian military insignia, five propaganda banners from the criminal structure and three notebooks containing information that authorities described as useful for intelligence work. The Defense Ministry released the operational figures and images through its public communications.

President Abelardo De la Espriella praised the actions in Nariño and said the state would not give in to pressure from criminal organizations. “For every soldier or police officer they kill, I will bring the full weight and all the legitimate force of the state down on the criminals,” he said.

The government included the operation in a broader report on its campaign against organized crime and illicit economies. In the previous 24 hours, authorities also said they had located and destroyed five laboratories used to process coca base paste, while seizing 1,007 gallons of liquid inputs and 175 kilograms of material. The supplied report ends before completing the details of that seizure.

“

For every soldier or police officer they kill, I will bring the full weight and all the legitimate force of the state down on the criminals.