Colombia’s military sent 200 extra troops to northern Colombia after four soldiers were killed in combat with paramilitary organization AGC.
The soldiers were sent to the regions of Northeast Antioquia and Southern Bolivar where the AGC and other illegal armed groups are involved in illegal gold mining and drug trafficking.
According to the Defense Ministry, the AGC “threaten the safety and well-being of the population” in the regions where guerrillas of the ELN and dissident factions of the now-demobilized FARC are also active.
In a press statement, the AGC condemned the government’s attacks on the paramilitaries in northern Colombia and reiterated their call for a peace process.
AGC
The latest military offensive comes almost a year after the collapse of peace talks between the government of President Gustavo Petro and the AGC.
Colombia’s ‘total war’ on illegal mining shuts down gold mining region
This breakdown was caused by violent protests in the regions that will now see an increase in military personnel.
The AGC was founded in opposition to the demobilization of the now-defunct paramilitary organization AUC in 2006.
Since then, the paramilitary organization has become one of Colombia’s most powerful player in Colombia’s criminal and informal economies.
Currently, the AGC allegedly has some 9,000 people in arms and, according to think tank Indepaz, is overtly active in 360 of Colombia’s 1,100 municipalities.
Overt AGC activity in 2022
Since the breakdown of talks, Petro has shown little interest in negotiating peace with the AGC.
The paramilitaries, on the other hand, have insisted that they are looking for an agreement that would allow the demobilization and disarmament of Colombia’s most powerful illegal armed group.