Explosion In Colombia's Arauca Kills One Soldier, Leaves Two Injured - Armed Forces

MEXICO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th February, 2022) An explosion left one soldier killed and two injured in the Colombian region of Arauca, the Colombian armed forces said on Tuesday.

"The units of the engineering battalion No. 18, which were carrying out patrols to ensure the safety of the civilian population in the municipality of Fortul, Arauca, suffered from the detonation of an explosive device installed on the road by terrorists from the National Liberation Army (ELN) organized crime group," the Colombian armed forces tweeted.

According to the military, the explosion left a 29-year-old soldier dead. The two injured were taken to the Sarawena city hospital.

The Arauca state is home to a paramilitary group called the National Liberation Army (ELN), which is Colombia's second-largest rebel group after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The Colombian government and several other countries and organizations, including the United States and the European Union, designated the ELN as a terrorist organization.

Since the beginning of January, ELN and dissidents of the 10th Front of the FARC, who rejected the 2016 Peace Agreement in Colombia, have engaged in a military confrontation in the Arauca region on Colombia's border with Venezuela.