🗞️ The use of drones in Colombia’s armed conflict has sharply escalated this year. FARC dissident groups including the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) have been modifying commercially available drones to drop bombs.
After 19 such attacks since April - most of them in Cauca and largely wounding civilians - the army has announced new anti-drone systems. The US Embassy's Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Section has now announced that they will support Colombia’s security forces to counter drone attacks.
The guerrilla group has reportedly been using low-cost drones available on Amazon, which are sold without controls and can carry up to 4kg of explosives across distances of up to 15km. Drones are also being employed for surveillance purposes, to identify approaching security units.
🗞️ In other conflict news, a new set of peace negotiations have officially begun. On Monday of this week in Caracas, Venezuela, the Colombian government began talks with the Segunda Marquetalia, a FARC dissident group commanded by alias Iván Márquez.
Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Emily Hart to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
