Colombian Military forces on Wednesday carried out a bombing attack in the Catatumbo region against the warring National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist terrorist groups.
The military operation, far-left President Gustavo Petro detailed through social media, killed seven ELN members.
For over a year, ELN forces and FARC’s “33rd front” group have maintained a fierce conflict in Catatumbo over control of the region’s coca leaf crops, the main ingredient used to produce cocaine. The conflict arose in early 2025 after the two Marxist groups broke their tacit “non-aggression agreement” that established their respective territorial criminal areas of influence in the region.
According to the United Nations, the ongoing conflict has so far left over 100,000 displaced from Catatumbo — roughly half the region’s entire population. A wave of violent clashes between ELN and FARC left over 250 Colombians displaced from their homes on Christmas Day 2025.
President Petro announced on a Wednesday social media post that he ordered a bombing strike in Catatumbo, leading to the deaths of seven ELN members, the recovery of 12 rifles, and the possibility of wounded. Petro noted that, based on official investigations, no minors were present in the attacked areas.
“Seven members of the ELN have been killed, one captured, and 12 rifles recovered. It is possible that there are more wounded individuals scattered among groups fleeing the area,” Petro’s message read in part.
“Three years ago, a peace process was proposed to the ELN. They responded a year ago by murdering 200 peasants in Catatumbo,” he continued.
While Petro said that the operation marked the 14th time his administration has carried out bombing strikes, several Colombian outlets reported that it marked the first time Petro has ordered a bombing strike against ELN throughout his entire presidency.
The operation also occurred hours after Petro met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Prior to the meeting, Petro maintained a notoriously hostile stance toward President Trump, and had even called upon humanity to “get rid of Trump.”
According to the Colombian presidency, Petro asserted to Trump that “those who bowed down to drug trafficking will be defeated.” Petro provided Trump with a list of “high-value” drug traffickers who are presently being targeted by Colombian Authorities. The Colombian President, speaking to Caracol Noticias, explained that the men listed on the document are drug kingpins who “rule over the drug lords in Colombia.”
“The names of the drug lords that I have given to Trump do not live in Colombia and are part of the multinational cocaine trade. I have requested extensive coordination between police intelligence agencies around the world to seize their capital and assets and capture them in the luxury cities where they are located,” Petro wrote on Wednesday.
“I have requested maximum support for our poor farmers who grow coca leaves, to replace their crops with legal crops whose products can be purchased by entrepreneurs with long-term contracts,” he continued. “It is unacceptable that the guilty parties live in the greatest luxury in the world while the punished and killed are the impoverished peasants of Colombia.”
Petro stressed that those who follow said drug lords from Colombia and do not accept peace “will simply suffer the consequences of being perpetrators of violence.”
“In the end, it is an individual decision, but I advise them to choose peace for the sake of a greater Colombia,” he concluded.
The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo revealed further details of the Wednesday military operation, explaining that the bombing strike took place in rural areas between the municipalities of El Tarra and Tibú where intense clashed between ELN and FARC have previously taken place, leading to the displacement of over 1,000 people in recent weeks.
The newspaper explained that the military operation was carried out in two phases: first with artillery fire support, then the bombing. The operation was not directed against a particular armed group, but instead at an area where military intelligence had identified movement by members of both armed organizations vying for territorial control. Military sources detailed to El Tiempo that that type of operation is carried out in rural areas and is planned far from population centers to impact the armed structures operating in the sector.
“The aim is to impact both groups, although the impact would be concentrated on the ELN, which has a greater presence in the area,” the source said.
“It is possible that the effect will be felt more strongly in the ELN, but the aim is to influence the dynamics of confrontation between the two structures,” another source told El Tiempo.
Colombia’s National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences announced on Thursday morning that it had received five bodies from the military operations in Catatumbo and will begin forensic examinations to fully identify them.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.