Local media reported activity at the Caño Limon-Coveñas oil pipeline had to be suspended due to the attack, which was registered in the Saravena municipality, close to the Venezuelan border.
This was the third rebel attack registered against said oil pipeline in Arauca in 2013. The department is one of the most important strongholds of the ELN rebels, who are believed to operate mainly in northern and northeastern Colombia.
The ELN, with some 2,500 armed members, have been fighting the Colombian state for almost half a century. The rebels are not participating in the ongoing peace talks between the Colombian government and the larger rebel group FARC in Havana, Cuba.