Explosive-laden drones struck a Colombian army base in Santa Rosa del Sur, in the northern department of Bolívar, around midday on Saturday, November 7, killing three soldiers and wounding at least 16, the country's armed forces said. The Army's First Division, in its own statement, confirmed three soldiers killed and eight seriously wounded.

Source: Associated Press via Jamaica Inquirer

The attack hit the military canton in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range, home to the army's 48th Jungle Battalion. Footage shared on social media showed clouds of smoke rising from the base after three explosions, and soldiers taking cover in shelters made of sandbags, the Associated Press reported.

No one has claimed the attack

Authorities have not said who carried out the strike, and no armed group had publicly claimed responsibility. The area around Santa Rosa del Sur is rich in gold mines and has long been disputed by armed groups including the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and smaller groups led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Their presence in the area is not, on its own, evidence that any one of them carried out this attack.

President Abelardo de la Espriella condemned the attack on X. "Those who were behind this attack will have nowhere to hide," he wrote, adding that every attack against Colombia's soldiers strengthens the resolve to defend the country. The army said operations were being intensified to find those responsible.

Source: Associated Press via Barbados Gazette

Part of a rising wave of attacks

The assault is the latest in a series of attacks on Colombia's security forces as violence rises across rural parts of the country since de la Espriella, a conservative, took office in August promising a hard line against armed groups. The conflict monitor ACLED recorded 34 attacks involving bombs or explosives in the four weeks to October 16, a nine per cent increase over the average four-week figure for last year.

The drone strike came days after a separate bombing in Colombia's southwest, where a dump truck packed with explosives blew up near a police substation in Patía, Cauca. Read: Truck bomb near Patía police substation