Colombia’s military commander ordered the elimination of joint task forces that were created in 2003 to combat guerrilla group FARC, which largely demobilized in 2017.
The military command also ended the so-called Specific Command forces that were created under the administration of President Gustavo Petro to combat paramilitary group EGC and dissident FARC groups.
In the decision, the troops that participated in joint operations were reintegrated in the regular units of the National Army, the Air Force and the Navy.
The joint task forces allowed the military to claim major victories during a military offensive against the FARC between 2003 and the end of that armed conflict in 2016.
During the peace process that followed peace with the FARC, the security forces failed to assume territorial control over regions that were abandoned by the Marxist guerrillas.
Other illegal armed groups were able to take over what used to be FARC-controlled regions, including those that had joint task forces assigned to them.
The elimination of the joint task forces would allow regular division commanders to formulate “a more effective response to threats and challenges in their respective domains,” according to the Defense Ministry.
The reorganization comes amid the implementation of an emergency plan that seeks to accelerate the implementation of the 2016 peace deal.
The implementation of this deal is part of Petro’s “Total Peace” plan, which also seeks to negotiate an end to the ELN’s armed insurgency and violence committed by other illegal armed groups.