Colombian President Gustavo Petro informed on Monday that 58 military and police personnel have died and 300 have been injured this year due to attacks with explosive-laden drones, which means that the aerial advantage of the Military Forces to combat illegal groups and drug traffickers «has been lost».
«The advantage that the Colombian Army and in general the Military Forces had, which was aerial, has now been reversed. The aerial advantage is held by drug trafficking, which can buy that (drones) in cash and by the thousands,» Petro said in Bogotá at a ceremony for the promotion of generals, where he presented the new leadership of the Military Forces.
According to Army data, since April 2024, when guerrilla groups carried out the first attack with these devices in the department of Cauca, until December 18, 393 such attacks have been recorded.
Faced with this situation, the Government announced mid-month that the purchase of drones and anti-drone systems will be prioritized to reinforce national security.
«In the council of ministers, the immediate purchase of these systems was ordered, with an investment of one trillion pesos (about 267.7 million dollars) for the entire country,» Petro assured on that occasion, pointing out that a large part of the resources are already guaranteed.
Petro also questioned the high military command for «security failures» in recent attacks, such as the one that occurred this month against the Military Base 27 in Aguachica, Cesar.
In that attack, perpetrated by the Camilo Torres Front of the National Liberation Army (ELN) with explosive-laden drones, seven soldiers died and another 30 were injured.
Likewise, the head of state pointed out failures in the Police in reference to the taking of the locality of Buenos Aires, Cauca, on December 16.
In that attack, attributed to a FARC dissident, eight police officers were injured and part of the town's buildings were destroyed.
