Colombian forensic experts are trying to determine if one of the FARC’s most feared commanders was killed in Monday’s bombing on a rebel camp that killed 36 alleged guerrillas.
“Carlos Antonio Lozada,” the second in command of the FARC’s Eastern Bloc and alleged commander of the feared “Antonio Nariño” urban guerrilla network, is suspected to be among those who were killed in the bombing. His death would be a severe blow to the FARC secretariat.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has accused Lozada of producing and exporting cocaine to the U.S. and the Colombian government believes he is responsible for the Bogota mortar attack during the inauguration of former President Alvaro Uribe in 2002.
General Juan Pablo Rodriguez told media that he could not confirm that any high ranking FARC members were among the dead, but that he knew many to be in the area of the bombings.
“We know that in that area was alias Arcesio who had emerged as the leader of the FARC’s 27th Front,” said Rodriguez. He added that some lower level commanders such as “Ivan Mordisoc,” “Andres el Politico,” and “Alfonso 45” were also believed to have been in the area at the time of the attack.
Thirty experts have arrived at the Apiay air base in the central Colombian city of Villavicencio to identify the guerrillas killed in the bombings in Vistahermosa, Meta on Monday.
The operation, dubbed “Armageddon,” resulted in the death of 36 guerrillas and the capture of three more. Another 33 FARC were killed in an army assault in the department of Arauca last Wednesday, bringing the total dead for the week up to 69.