The Blackhawk helicopter was carrying 17 soldiers when it fell. (Representative)
Colombia:
Eleven Colombian soldiers were missing and six injured after a helicopter crashed in the southeast of the country during an operation against the guerrillas, the army said on Tuesday.
The Blackhawk helicopter was carrying 17 soldiers when it fell. The high command of the armed forces did not disclose whether he had been shot or whether it was an accident.
Authorities found the helicopter on a stretch of the Inirida River in Guaviare state, an area where dissident guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are active.
FARC rebels laid down their arms as part of a landmark 2016 peace deal that ended half a century of conflict and transformed the guerrillas into a communist political party.
But more than 2,000 dissidents, authorities say, have refused to join the 13,000 rebels who signed the peace accord and continue to resist the government, financing themselves through drug trafficking and illegal mining.
The military said the helicopter was participating in an operation against dissidents in an area where there are drug plantations.
The army’s air assault division said in a statement it was “on site to begin relevant investigations to determine the circumstances regarding the time, manner and location of the events.”
The conflict of more than half a century has left nine million dead, missing or displaced.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
