An alleged paramilitary offensive against Colombia’s police has left 15 officials and two civilians dead so far this year.
The increased attacks against police officers has made 2022 the deadliest year for the security forces since the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC laid down its weapons in 2016.
According to the National Police, 36 police officers have been killed so far this year.
The majority of 15 officers who were murdered by alleged paramilitaries were killed after an AGC order to assassinate cops that was allegedly issued on June 22.
Groups formed by dissident FARC guerrillas allegedly killed nine policemen and guerrilla group ELN is held responsible for seven cop killings in regions under their control.
Cop killings in 2022
Suspected cop killers
The AGC’s alleged assassination order
According to the National Police, the recent surge in cop killings is due to an alleged reward offered by the AGC for every killed police officer.
The paramilitaries offer between COP5 million ($1,130) and COP20 million ($4,525) for every assassinated cop, police told local media.
The AGC has carried out similar offensive since the group officially announced its existence in 2013.
The paramilitaries’ alleged “Pistol Plan” put police on their highest alert in the AGC’s heartland in the northwestern Antioquia provinces and along the Caribbean coast.
The “pistol plan” followed a four-day terror campaign in May.
AGC kill 26 during 4-day terror campaign in northern Colombia
Why the violence?
General Jorge Luis Vargas, the director of the National Police, told radio station La FM on Wednesday that the cop killings are the AGC’s “criminal revenge” for the police’s “strong actions against organized crime.”
Francisco Daza, an analyst of think tank Paz y Reconciliacion, told Spanish newspaper El Pais that the offensive is a signal of the strength of the paramilitaries.
The United Nations’ Office for Human Rights (HCHR) said that the territorial expansion of a variety of illegal armed groups caused a surge in violence that is mainly affecting civilians.
Multiple NGO’s have blamed failures in the security and peace policies of President Ivan Duque of the increased violence by illegal armed groups and organized crime.
Colombia subjected to worst levels of violence in decades
The AGC has apparently stepped up its offensive against the police ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Gustavo Petro next week.
Petro has vowed a radical change in the government’s security policy, and has opened the door for negotiations with illegal armed groups like the AGC in an attempt to dismantle them.