Colombia military operation bombing kills 10 FARC dissidents

Bombing by the Colombian army killed ten and wounded three at a base used by dissidents from the former FARC armed group in southeast Colombia.

Defense Minister Diego Molano stated on Twitter that the military action had "neutralized" 13 FARC dissidents under the command of a man going by the alias "Gentil Duarte." He did not say when the assault took place.

A source told the AFP news agency ten were killed and three wounded.

The dissidents distanced themselves from the 2016 peace treaty in Colombia, which ended a half-century civil war and saw the then FARC disarm the following year.

The bombing took place in the municipal area of ​​Calamar in the jungle of southeastern Colombia, where former FARC dissidents are still operating.

"These drug criminals are responsible for the recruitment of minors, attacks on our public forces, kidnapping, and illegal mining," Molano said.

He added that the government "will not rest" until he finds Duarte, one of the most popular rebel commanders in Colombia.

Last Friday, the country launched an elite force of 7,000 people to fight rebels funded by drug trafficking and other illegal activities.

It is said that the force will pursue members of the ELN - the last active rebel group in Colombia - as well as drug gangs and former FARC rebels who have abandoned the terms of peace.

In December, the UN said the Colombian government had killed 244 former FARC fighters since the signing of the peace agreements.

Colombia continues a multifaceted armed conflict in which left-wing fighters, drug traffickers, and right-wing paramilitary fighters compete for the lucrative cocaine and illegal mineral extraction industry.

In February, President Ivan Duque accused Venezuela of "protecting" the remaining rebel fighters.

His counterpart Nicolas Maduro replied that his country would "react with violence" if the new elite power of Colombia or Duque "dared to violate the sovereignty of Venezuela."

More than nine million people have died, disappeared, or are disappearing thanks to the fight against rebel forces in Colombia since the 1960s.