Colombia: ELN attacks continue /update 4

Event

A string of attacks by the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group targeting oil infrastructure and security forces continued on Saturday, January 13. An employee of Colombia’s main petroleum company Ecopetrol was kidnapped in Saravena (Arauca department) on Saturday morning while attempting to repair a section of the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline; the pipeline had been bombed by the group earlier in the week. Late on Saturday another bombing targeted the Transandino oil pipeline in Mallama (Nariño department), forcing the temporary suspension of pumping activities.

Additionally, two suspected ELN members were captured during a military operation in Tame (Arauca).

This resumption of hostilities follows the January 9 expiration of a bilateral ceasefire between the ELN and the Colombian government. Other attacks have occurred in Arauquita (Arauca), Saravena, Cubará (Boyaca), Aguazul (Casanare), Orú (Norte de Santander), and Zarabena (Arauca). Further attacks are feared in the above departments, as well as in Chocó and Cauca.

President Juan Manuel Santos has ordered the military to resume “full intensity” operations against the group.

Context

The attacks began the day a new round of peace talks was scheduled to begin between the ELN and the Colombia government. However, President Santos ordered his chief negotiator to withdraw from peace talks, at least temporarily, on January 10. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has traveled to Colombia in a bid to help restart the peace talks.

The ELN - the country's last remaining rebel group following the demobilization of the FARC - is believed to have some 2000 fighters spread out over the departments of Nariño, Arauca, Boyacá, Norte de Santander, La Guajira, Cesar, Bolívar, Casanare, Santander, Chocó, Cauca, and Putumayo, particularly in rural zones. Peace talks have been ongoing since February 2017.

Advice

Individuals in Colombia are advised to monitor developments to the situation. Due to the presence of a number of armed groups - including organized crime groups, drug cartels, right-wing militias, and local gangs in addition to the ELN - some Western governments advise against travel to various parts of the country.