The United States Embassy in Colombia has issued a security warning this Thursday due to "elevated risk" of attacks in the department of Cesar, located in the northeast of the country, attributed to illegal armed groups, including the guerrilla of the National Liberation Army (ELN), classified by Washington as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization."
In its statement, the diplomatic mission notes that "it is possible that illegal armed groups carry out more attacks, with little or no warning, against police stations, government buildings, military facilities, and related infrastructure in the department of Cesar," and adds that U.S. government personnel "may have restrictions on traveling to certain areas of the department of Cesar due to these risks."
The text recalls that, so far this year, "multiple attacks" have been recorded with drones loaded with explosives against police substations, military facilities, and other security force posts in Cesar.
Specifically, it mentions an attack that occurred in July against the police substation of the hamlet El Burro, in the municipality of Pailitas, which left five agents injured; another attack in August in the municipality of Curumaní, in which a police officer was killed; and several drone actions in the south of the department at the end of August, which caused injuries to several soldiers.
At the beginning of this week, the Government of Cesar and the Colombian Army delivered to the Tenth Brigade, based in Valledupar, the capital of the department, technological systems to inhibit drones. This measure is part of a strategy aimed at "neutralizing the unmanned aerial threats from organized armed groups in the department, and reinforcing the protection of the Public Force and the civilian population," as the Army itself indicated in a statement at that time.