A child was killed and six were wounded in a suspected FARC attack near the Venezuelan border, reported local media Wednesday.
An explosive device was launched at a passing patrol of police and soldiers in San Pablo in the department of Norte de Santander. The device landed in a nearby home killing a three-year-old boy and injuring six others, including a nine-year-old child.
Two suspects were arrested in connection with the attack, which took place Tuesday night, report police.
The incident follows a military raid which killed 36 suspected guerrillas Monday, dealing a major blow to the FARC. The government has upped operations against Colombia’s largest guerrilla group since the rebels killed 11 soliders in an attack on March 12.
The Ministry of Defense revealed Wednesday that the demobilized leader of the FARC’s 43rd Front, captured in Monday’s raid, has helped them to identify rebels that were among the dead.
The nephew of former FARC leader Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, alias “Mono Jojoy”, was allegedly among those killed in the military operation. He’s believed to have served as the security chief of the illegal groups Eastern Bloc.
The rebels suffered another hit Wednesday as Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon and his Panamanian counterpart Jose Raul Mulino announced two camps belonging to FARC’s 57th Front had been destroyed in Panama.
“This is the best proof that when collaboration between countries happens, it actively produces effective results and that joint efforts can shut down the border areas to terrorists and drug traffickers,” said Pinzon in an official statement.