CAUCA, COLOMBIA – A drone attack aimed at military personnel in Colombia resulted in the tragic death of a 10-year-old boy, the first fatality of its kind in the nation. The Defense Ministry attributed the attack to rogue dissident guerrillas once affiliated with the FARC armed group.
“Young Dylan, aged 10, was killed following the launching of grenades by drones targeting soldiers,” expressed the regional military commander, General Federico Mejia, in a social media video. The attack, which employed a grenade-loaded drone, happened on a soccer field in a rebel stronghold in El Plateado.
Six others were injured along with the fatality. The Colombian army has reported 17 drone attacks occurring in a span of six weeks earlier this year. Although these did not result in deaths, the military noted a growing trend in guerrilla groups using commercially available drones to conduct attacks.
“We are reinforcing the military offensive to protect the population and capture those responsible for the attack,” spoke Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez after expressing his condolences to the deceased boy’s family. He stated that the attackers were part of the Carlos Patino Front, a hardliner faction of the EMC involved in illegal drug trafficking.
The regional military commander Mejia remarked that the rebels were retaliating against military operations directed against them, who were reportedly trying to gain control over illegal economies. The area where El Plateado is located, the Micay Canyon, is a significant region for cocaine production, thanks to the abundant green coca plantations that dot its landscape.