Eight members of Colombia's Gulf Clan, including a senior commander the president named as one of the country's 10 priority targets, have been killed in a military air strike in the north-western province of Antioquia, President Abelardo de la Espriella has announced.

Source: BBC News

De la Espriella said he had personally authorised the bombing, which hit a Gulf Clan camp in a rural area of Tarazá, Antioquia, on Tuesday. Among the dead, he said, was Haminton Mosquera, known as Negro Perea, a senior member of the gang's Manuel Alexander Ariza Gutiérrez substructure.

Source: BBC News

Operation Nehemías

Colombian reporting of the president's announcement said the raid, dubbed Operation Nehemías, was carried out jointly by the National Army, the National Police and the Colombian Air Force, and that the camp was completely destroyed. Troops at the scene seized long-range weapons and antipersonnel mines, the reporting said.

Source: RedMás Noticias reporting of the president's statement

In a post on X, De la Espriella said Mosquera was suspected of having ordered attacks against the security forces, including the murder of a police officer in the municipality of Tarazá last year. The claims about Mosquera's role are the president's and the security forces'; the gang has not commented on the strike in the reporting seen.

Source: BBC News

Who the Gulf Clan are

The Gulf Clan — Clan del Golfo in Spanish — is Colombia's largest criminal gang. It has engaged in criminal activity for decades, mainly trafficking cocaine from Colombia to destinations in the United States and Europe, but also illegal mining and people smuggling, the BBC reported. The United States added the group to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations last year.

Source: BBC News

A president elected to bomb the gangs

De la Espriella was elected in June after campaigning on a promise to crack down on Colombia's powerful criminal gangs, including by launching air strikes against them. Less than a month after taking office, he published a video showing him walking among 23 body bags containing the remains of people killed in an air strike on a suspected guerrilla camp — a signal, analysts said at the time, that aerial bombardment would be a central tool of his security policy.

Source: BBC News

What happens next

The Tarazá strike is the latest test of that policy. The president has authorised offensive operations in strategic departments including Chocó, Cauca and Norte de Santander, according to the Colombian reporting, and further strikes against the Gulf Clan and other armed groups are expected as the government tries to restore state authority in areas where the gangs tax, mine and smuggle with little challenge.