In brief
A Colombian air operation, code‑named 'Noah', hit a FARC dissident camp in the Catatumbo region, killing four fighters and capturing six, including the alias ‘Barba Chivo’. President Abelardo de la Espriella said the strike seized weapons and raided several encampments, and he plans additional raids to take down the group’s top leaders.
The Colombian president announced Monday that an airstrike in the Catatumbo region killed four FARC dissidents and captured six more, including the rebel leader known as “Barba Chivo.”
President Abelardo de la Espriella said:
In a decisive military operation that I authorized in a rural area of Tibu, Norte de Santander (department), our National Army and Colombian Air Force struck this criminal organization, which seeks to sow terror and exert control over Catatumbo through fire and bloodshed, He posted on X.
The operation, code‑named Noah, was carried out near Venezuela’s border in Tibu, where the armed group had set up three camps that could hold about 35 members.
Colombian forces seized seven rifles, 15 drone‑dropped grenades, and other supplies while the air raid killed four fighters and took six hostages.
The detainees include a low‑level commander who works with Andrey Avendano, the top boss of the FARC Structure 33 faction.
De la Espriella said the campaign will continue until the group’s highest leaders are captured and brought to justice for crimes.
He has ordered seven bombing raids on the FARC dissident factions, the National Liberation Army, and the Clan del Golfo gang in Catatumbo, Guaviare, and Choco since taking office on Aug. 7.
The FARC has long been a major source of violence in Colombia; although it signed a peace deal in 2016, many of its factions remain active in the border region and have been linked to drug trafficking.
The president announced similar raids earlier in the year targeting rival groups, demonstrating a wider Colombian security effort to curb armed groups along the Venezuelan frontier.