Deaths of child recruits will not halt bombing of illegal armed groups, Colombia says

Record ID: 2294798

  • Title: Deaths of child recruits will not halt bombing of illegal armed groups, Colombia says
  • Date: 19th November 2025
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (NOVEMBER 19, 2025) (REUTERS) COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER PEDRO ARNULFO SANCHEZ SUAREZ DURING INTERVIEW VARIOUS OF SANCHEZ USING COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER, PEDRO ARNULFO SANCHEZ SUAREZ, SAYING:     “The use of all legitimate capabilities of the State, which include airstrikes, will continue. So far under this government, 1,40
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Colombia Colombian government FARC Guerilla
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, COLOMBIA / INTERNET
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, COLOMBIA / INTERNET
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA00A335419112025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Colombia's military will continue carrying out bombing operations to curb the expansion of illegal armed groups, despite the recent deaths of at least 12 children and teenagers in three airstrikes against a FARC dissident group, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday (November 19).
        Human rights ombudsman Iris Marin this week urged President Gustavo Petro to suspend bombings following recent airstrikes in the provinces of Amazonas, Guaviare and Arauca. The president apologized to the mothers of seven minors killed in one of the attacks.
        The bombings mark a shift in Petro's security strategy. He halted them when he took office in 2022, reinstating them last year on the condition they did not cause casualties among children and teenagers recruited by guerrillas and criminal gangs.
    "The use of all legitimate capabilities of the state, including bombings, will continue," Sanchez, a retired general in the Colombian Aerospace Force, told Reuters. 
        Petro, who vowed to end the six-decade-long armed conflict that has left more than 450,000 dead, changed his security tact last year after limited progress in talks with armed groups. He ordered a military offensive in the southwest to dislodge a FARC dissident faction that rejected a 2016 peace agreement, though the strategy has not achieved the expected results.
        The top leader of FARC dissidents affected by the bombings, known as Ivan Mordisco, threatened to subject those responsible for the air attacks on his troops to a "revolutionary trial."
        Air strikes have historically been an important tool for Colombia. The FARC entered talks that led to the 2016 peace deal and the demobilization of 13,000 fighters after several top commanders were killed in bombings.
        Some opposition political leaders and military experts denounced a possible cost overrun in the deal.
    (Production: Javier Rojas, Herbert Villarraga, Felipe Leon, Mariana Hernandez, Hugo Monnet) 
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