bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Colombian troops killed nine FARC dissidents in a raid on Friday in what the president said was “a clear message” to their leaders who have formally rejected a 2016 peace agreement and announced a return to arms.
President Ivan Duque said he had authorised the military operation in rural areas of Colombia’s south.
In a statement welcoming the raid, Duque dismissed the group as “a gang of narco-terrorist criminals who are residuals of what was known as the FARC, and who are part of the criminal structures that seek to challenge Colombia.”
Friday’s operation was “a clear message” to the group to lay down their weapons, he said.

Los delincuentes están advertidos: se entregan o serán vencidos. En operación de @FuerzasMilCo , #CCOES afectó 9 integrantes de GAO-r 7 en zona rural de San Vicente del Caguán, #Caquetá.

No nos van a atemorizar.
#ColombiaVaADerrotarElTerrorismo
— Guillermo Botero (@GuillermoBotero) August 30, 2019

Defence Minister Guillermo Botero, who said the operation had taken place in the San Vicente del Caguan region, wrote on Twitter: “The criminals are warned: they surrender or they will be defeated.”
On Thursday, Duque said he would send a special army unit “with reinforced intelligence, investigation and mobility capabilities” to hunt down dissident leader Ivan Marquez and other holdouts.
That same day, Marquez announced a return to arms in a video message, accusing Duque’s government of betraying the accord, under which most of the FARC’s 7,000 fighters disarmed after half a century of conflict.
The whereabouts of Marquez, the Marxist FARC’s number two leader and chief negotiator of the 2016 peace agreement, have been unknown for more than a year.

Marquez and a fugitive rebel colleague, Jesus Santrich, have distanced themselves from the peace deal.
Santrich, who went underground earlier this year after the United States sought to have him extradited on drug charges, also appeared in the video.
Marquez said his forces would coordinate with Colombia’s last active rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), “and those comrades who have not folded up their flags.”
The United States, a key ally of Duque’s conservative government, denounced Marquez and his allies.

“We strongly repudiate recent calls by some individuals to abandon the FARC’s commitments under the 2016 peace accord,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
“We stand resolutely with the government of Colombia, President Duque and the Colombian people in their efforts to ensure justice and the lasting peace and security that the people deserve.”
Although most of the FARC fighters laid down weapons to return to civilian life, around 2,300 have refused to do so.
Colombia producing more cocaine than ever before, UN figures show
“Colombians must be clear that we are not facing a new guerilla, but facing the criminal threats of a gang of narco-terrorists who have the shelter and support of the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro,” Duque said.
Duque, on a visit to Sincelejo in northern Colombia, said in Friday’s statement on the raid that the FARC unit’s leader, who went by the name Gildardo Cucho, was among those killed.
He described Cucho as “a criminal dedicated to drug-trafficking, kidnapping, intimidation of social leaders and who intended to be part of that threatening structure that yesterday was presented to the country as a new guerilla, which it is not.”


Cuba rejects ‘shameless’ US request for diesel amid Trump oil blockade

Mexico invites Spain’s king to World Cup in sign of thaw

Cuba’s leader vows ‘unbreakable resistance’ if US tries to take over island

Spain’s king acknowledges ‘much abuse’ in conquest of the Americas

Americas and the Caribbean

Colombian troops kill nine FARC dissidents in rural raid

Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) patrol in the remote mountains of Colombia in 2016. Photo: Reuters

Colombian President Ivan Duque gestures as he speaks during an event to give land property deeds to conflict victims in Ovejas, northern Colombia, on August 30, 2019. - Colombian troops killed nine FARC dissidents in a raid Friday in what the president said was "a clear message" to their leaders who have formally rejected a 2016 peace agreement and announced a return to arms. (Photo by JUAN BARRETO / AFP)

TOPSHOT - CORRECTION - This TV grab taken from youtube and released on August 29, 2019 shows former senior commander of the dissolved FARC rebel army group in Colombia, Ivan Marquez(L) and fugitive rebel colleague, Jesus Santrich(R), on an undisclosed location announcing that they are taking up arms again along with other guerrillas who have distanced themselves from a peace accord signed with the government in 2016. - The whereabouts of Marquez, Marxist FARC's number two leader and chief negotiator of the 2016 peace agreement, had been unknown for more than a year. With UN support, the peace accord ended the insurrection by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and turned it into a political party. (Photo by HO / YOUTUBE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by HO has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Credit: AFP/H

Colombia’s FARC guerillas say 2016 peace has failed, call for armed revolution

Former FARC leader Ivan Marquez, centre, and other ex-commanders announced that they are taking up arms again on Thursday. Photo: EPA

In this photo released by the Colombia's Presidential Press Office, President Ivan Duque gives a statement at Palacio de Narino in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. Duque is lashing out against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for allegedly providing safe haven to a cadre of demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel leaders who announced they are rearming. (Efrain Herrera/Colombia's Presidential Press Office via AP)

FILE PHOTO: Colombia's Marxist FARC Jesus Santrich gestures during a news conference in Bogota, Colombia November 16, 2017. Picture taken November 16, 2017. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga/File Photo

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2016 file photo, Juliana, a 20-year-old rebel fighter for the 36th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rests from a trek in the northwest Andes of Colombia, in Antioquia state. The top peace negotiator for the FARC announced Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019, that he and a cadre of hardline supporters are taking up arms again, accusing President Ivan Duque of failing to uphold the accord that sought to end a half century of bloody fighting. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2007 file photo, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, greets representative of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC , Ivan Marquez after a meeting at the presidential palace in Caracas. The top peace negotiator for the FARC announced Thursday,Aug. 29, 2019, that he and a cadre of hardline supporters are taking up arms again, accusing President Ivan Duque of failing to uphold the accord that sought to end a half century of bloody fighting. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero, File)

After 50 years of war, Colombia risks ‘something worse’ if FARC rebels are not reintegrated into society

Former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member Gacinto Gamba, 68. He is now part of the reintegration programme for veterans of illegal armed groups. Photo: AFP

Former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member Miguel Velez, 74, poses for a photo in Toro, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia. Velez was in the FARC guerrillas, is now part of the program for veterans seniors of illegal armed groups led by the Colombian Agency for Reintegration (ACR) of the Colombian government, which is responsible for the reintegration of demobilized persons from armed groups outside the law. / AFP PHOTO / LUIS ROBAYO

This handout photograph obtained courtesy of the United Nations Mission in Colombia shows arms and ammunition, part of 69 tons from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, Marxists) handed over to the Colombian government by the UN Mission in Colombia, Friday, October 13, 2017 in Bogota. The armaments will be fused to construct three monuments: one in New York, seat of the United Nations, one in Havana, and the last in Colombia. The United Nations had on September 15, 2017 ended its work in the disarmament of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. / AFP PHOTO / United Nations Mission in Colombia / United Nations Mission in Colombia / == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / UN MISSION IN COLOMBIA" / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==

Former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) member Ludivia Munoz, 52, poses for a photo in Toro, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia. Munoz was in the FARC guerrillas for 27 years and is now part of the program for veterans seniors of illegal armed groups, led by the Colombian Agency for Reintegration (ACR) of the Colombian government, which is responsible for the reintegration of demobilized persons from armed groups outside the law. / AFP PHOTO / LUIS ROBAYO

Colombia’s Brexit moment? Voters reject deal with FARC rebels, derailing government’s attempts to end 52-year civil war

Voters in Bogota celebrate the outcome of the referendum. Photo: AFP

A supporters of the peace accord signed between the Colombian government and rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, cries as she follows on a giant screen the results of a referendum to decide whether or not to support the deal in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. Colombia's peace deal with leftist rebels was on the verge of collapsing in a national referendum Sunday, with those opposing the deal leading by a razor-thin margin with almost all votes counted. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

epa05567012 Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos waves after voting for the referendum on the peace agreement between the government and the FARC guerrilla group, in Bogota, Colombia, 02 October 2016. Some 34.8 million citizens are eligible to vote 'Yes' or 'No' on the agreement between President Juan Manuel Santos's administration and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebel group. EPA/MAURICIO DUENAS CASTANEDA

News

World

Americas


President Ivan Duque said he had authorised the military operation against what he described as ‘a gang of narco-terrorist criminals’



President Ivan Duque said he had authorised the military operation against what he described as ‘a gang of narco-terrorist criminals’ in the country’s south.


Terrorism

Drugs

Crime

War and conflict

Colombian troops kill nine FARC dissidents in rural raid

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} President Ivan Duque said he had authorised the military operation against what he described as ‘a gang of narco-terrorist criminals’

President Ivan Duque said he had authorised the military operation against what he described as ‘a gang of narco-terrorist criminals’