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🇨🇴 Colombia /Conflict & Security

Tolima governor moves office to Ataco as armed groups target police, government buildings and military bases with drones

From El Tiempo · () Spanish

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

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Tolima Governor Adriana Magali Matiz moved her office to Ataco after a series of killings, attacks and extortion incidents blamed on FARC dissident groups in southern Tolima.
  • Authorities aim to develop offensive strategies against armed structures accused of extortion and illegal gold mining control in the region.
  • The violence has also affected Rioblanco and Planadas, major coffee-producing municipalities, and includes attacks on police patrols and a military base.

Tolima Governor Adriana Magali Matiz has taken her office to Ataco, one of the municipalities in southern Tolima where armed groups have killed police officers, extorted residents and attacked military bases and municipal buildings with explosives-laden drones.

Matiz said the move would allow authorities to design offensive strategies against FARC dissident structures operating in the region. She was joined by Police Colonel Ferney Martín Romero, Army Colonel Arnold Esneider Pérez Linares and Ataco Mayor Héctor Muñoz.

“The criminals will not get through while we have the unbreakable determination to lead from the front, stand up and defend the region’s peace,” Matiz said. She added that officials were listening to the mayor and local leaders and staying alongside residents who need support.

The criminals will not get through while we have the unbreakable determination to lead from the front, stand up and defend the region’s peace.

· Adriana Magali MatizThe Tolima governor explained her decision to move her office to Ataco.

The governor said dissidents carried out numerous violent actions in Ataco, Rioblanco and Planadas during August. The municipalities are known for coffee production sold in Europe and the United States. The groups also allegedly profit from extortion, intimidation and demands for a large share of illegal gold mining along the Saldaña River and nearby streams.

Tensions intensified on Aug. 1, when gunmen killed Tolima police officers Yeferson Meneses Aranda and Edison Cuesta Forero during a motorbike patrol in the Santiago Pérez district of Ataco. Authorities attributed the attack to the Gerónimo Galeano structure of the Central Bloc, Comandante Isaías Pardo. On Aug. 7, the group allegedly launched drones and explosives at a military base in the Casa Verde area, where Sixth Brigade troops operate. Several illegal armed structures linked to the aliases Calarcá and Mordisco operate in the highlands near the Huila border.

We are in the territory listening to the mayor and the leaders; we remain alongside the citizens and the people who need us.

· Adriana Magali MatizMatiz described the government’s presence in Ataco and its engagement with local residents.
About this summary

Originally published by El Tiempo 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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