Ecuador accuses more Colombian military officials over 2008 raid

Ecuador’s prosecutor general adds two ex-Colombian military chiefs to the list of those it wants to prosecute for the 2008 bombing of a FARC camp in Ecuadorean territory.

In March 2008, Colombian military forces bombed a FARC camp across the Ecuadorean border without notifying the country of the operation. The bombing left 25 dead, among them FARC’s second-in-command “Raul Reyes.”

Ecuador’s Prosecutor General Carlos Jimenez told El Comercio that Admiral Guillermo Barrera and General Jorge Ballesteros are being prosecuted because there are “indications” that they took part in the operation. Barrera was commander of the Navy and Ballesteros was in charge of the air force at the time of the attack.

Barrera and Ballesteros have been notified of the charges against them. Others implicated include Colombian generals Mario Montoya, Freddy Padilla and Oscar Naranjo, according to Jimenez.

Juan Manuel Santos was Colombian defense minister at the time of the raid, and an Ecuadorean court issued an arrest warrant for the politician in June 2010. The warrant was revoked when Santos became president, but he is still under investigation for his role in the attack.

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