Explosive drones kill three soldiers at a Colombian army base as the new president’s war on armed groups bites back

Three Colombian soldiers have been killed and at least eight injured in a drone attack on an army base in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small gold-mining town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountains in the northern department of Bolívar.

The attack hit the town’s military compound, home to the army’s 48th Jungle Battalion, around midday on Saturday, local time (about 1am AWST on Sunday). Early reports said several drones loaded with explosives were used. Some of the injured soldiers were reportedly taken to hospitals in Barrancabermeja and Bucaramanga in neighbouring Santander.

The army called it a cowardly terrorist attack and a serious violation of international humanitarian law, and said the killings must not go unpunished.

Who is behind it?

No group has claimed the attack and the army has not named a suspect. Santa Rosa del Sur sits in one of Colombia’s most fought-over corners: its gold mines have long been disputed by the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest drug-trafficking group, and smaller factions led by former members of the FARC, the guerrilla army that disarmed under the 2016 peace deal.

Early local reports pointed to possible ELN involvement, but that has not been confirmed. A day before the attack, authorities announced the capture in Santa Rosa del Sur of a man they accuse of managing ELN finances; they have not linked the arrest to the attack.

What has the president said?

President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office in August, said on X that those responsible “will have nowhere to hide” and ordered security forces to pursue them. “You will not intimidate us,” he wrote.

Why is this happening now?

Since taking office, de la Espriella has cancelled peace talks with the remaining rebel organisations, increased airstrikes, sent troops into some cities and set up joint task forces to guard strategic assets, including a pipeline running from the Caribbean coast to central Colombia.

His government argues the armed groups used ceasefires under his predecessor to tighten their grip on rural areas. The groups have answered with attacks of their own. Last week a military base in Tolima province was hit by missiles made from gas canisters, killing four civilians, and police in the border city of Cúcuta have been targeted several times with remotely detonated bombs.

How big is the drone threat?

Cheap commercial drones fitted with explosives have become one of the most dangerous weapons in Colombia’s conflict, as in Ukraine and the Middle East: they are hard to spot, cost little and let small groups strike fortified bases from a distance. The conflict monitor ACLED counted 34 bomb or explosive attacks by state forces and armed groups in Colombia in the four weeks to 16 October, 9 per cent more than last year’s four-week average.

Why does it matter beyond Colombia?

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and the groups fighting over places like Santa Rosa del Sur control much of the supply that reaches markets as far away as Australia and Europe. Whether de la Espriella’s hard line weakens them, or drags the country back towards the full-scale violence the 2016 deal was meant to end, matters well beyond its borders.