Five members of the Colombian military died Friday while trying to a
demine a minefield in the Antioquia department, official sources say.
The FARC is held responsible for the mines.
The minefield was located in the municipality of Yuramal, in the north of Antioquia. According to newspaper El Espectador, an official said that the minefield was laid by the FARC’s 36th front to protect rebel activity near highway 25, the road connecting Medellín with the Caribbean coast.
The two killed sergeants and three killed soldiers belonged to the Army’s Fourth Brigade, that is active in counterinsurgency operations in the north of Antioquia.
“The Fourth Brigade will continue the development of military operations, especially trying to avoid terrorist activity that affects the civilian population and the energy infrastructure of the Antioquia department,” the official told the newspaper.
The use of antipersonnel mines as the ones that killed the members of the military Friday is considered a violation of international law. The Geneva convention forbids the use of these mines in warfare, because of the high number of civilian casualties.