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Colombia’s defense minister defends airstrike that killed three minors
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

Colombia’s defense minister defends airstrike that killed three minors

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Colombia’s defense minister defended an Aug. 27 airstrike that killed 10 members of a FARC dissident group, including three minors, in Guaviare province.
  • Authorities said the operation targeted the group’s leader, Juan Agudelo Salazar, known as “Urías Perdomo,” who was not reported to be among the dead.
  • The deaths add to concerns over minors recruited by armed groups and come amid higher reported fatalities in military airstrikes under the current administration than under the previous government.

Colombia’s defense minister defended a military airstrike that killed 10 members of a FARC dissident group, including three minors, in the southern department of Guaviare.

Jorge Eduardo Mora said the Aug. 27 operation involved the armed forces and national police and targeted three camps near the Inírida River, in the municipality of El Retorno. The intended target was Juan Agudelo Salazar, known as “Urías Perdomo,” the leader of the Jorge Suárez Briceño bloc. Initial information indicated that he survived the attack.

The Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences Institute identified nine of the 10 bodies. Four were female and five were male, while three of those identified were minors. One body remained under forensic examination because of its condition. The identities of the minors have not been released.

The operation observed all legal standards for strategic aerial attacks during planning and execution, and urgent measures required by law were also carried out at the site.

— Colombia’s Defense MinistryThe ministry defended the legality of the airstrike.

The Defense Ministry said the airstrike met legal standards for strategic aerial attacks during planning and execution, and that legally required urgent procedures were carried out at the scene. President Abelardo de la Espriella backed Mora and the military, saying armed groups that recruit minors as fighters or human shields must answer for violations of humanitarian law.

The deaths come after another minor under 18 was identified following a separate military operation ordered by the government in southern Colombia. The article places the cases in a wider setting of child recruitment by armed groups. Legal Medicine recorded 367 deaths in military bombings during Iván Duque’s 2018-2022 presidency, including 42 minors. Under Gustavo Petro, from 2022 through May 31, the institute recorded 458 deaths, including 62 minors. Human Rights Watch had urged De la Espriella to take steps to curb rising recruitment of minors.

Bandits who for decades have recruited minors to turn them into combatants or human shields must pay for those crimes that violate humanitarian law.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaThe president backed the defense minister and the armed forces.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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