De la Espriella claims Colombia’s military killed 23, arrested 6 EMC guerrillas

President Abelardo de la Espriella claimed Wednesday that Colombia’s armed forces killed at least 23 members of FARC dissident group EMC and captured another six.

In a video, De la Espriella said that “Operation Azarias,” targeted the EMC’s Carolina Ramirez Front and killed one of its commanders, a man called “Tigre” or “Pintado,” in the south of the Guaviare province.

A second guerrilla commander, “Victor,” was among the six alleged EMC members who were arrested during the operation, which included air strikes.

The president claimed that Victor carried out attacks against the military “during the elections, as part of the ‘gunpoint vote’ strategy launched by the previous regime to skew the popular verdict.”

That narcoterrorist, whom we have now taken out of circulation, carried out attacks against members of the National Army and the Navy. During the elections, as part of the “gunpoint vote” strategy launched by the previous regime to skew the popular verdict, this criminal ambushed a unit that was on the move precisely to protect citizens’ right to vote freely.

President Abelardo de la Espriella

There is no evidence to suggest that De la Espriella’s predecessor, former President Gustavo Petro, employed illegal armed groups to coerce voters into voting against his would-be successor.

One minor allegedly survived the attack and was surrendered to family welfare agency ICBF. The Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to investigate how many minors were among the alleged “narcoterrorists.”

At least three minors were killed in a previous operation in Guaviare that killed at least nine alleged members of the EMC’s main rival, FARC dissident group EMBF, the Medical Examiner’s Office said earlier this week.

Air strikes against illegal armed groups are controversial as they could imply the blanket killing of victims of child recruitment, a war crime according to international humanitarian law.

The government has long insisted that those recruiting children and minors are responsible for the deaths of their victims.