Fatal Attack in Colombia: Two Police Officers Killed in ELN Guerrilla Explosion Amid Escalating Border Violence

Colombia is currently facing an escalation in armed conflict and violence.

Two police officers were killed in northeast Colombia on Sunday in an attack that authorities have attributed to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a Marxist guerrilla organization that has been operating since the 1960s.

President Gustavo Petro expressed his condemnation of the killings of a police superintendent and sub-superintendent in Cúcuta through a statement on X. He also warned that military presence along the Colombian-Venezuelan border would be strengthened.

General William Ospina, Director of the Colombian National Police, reported via social media that two "terrorist attacks" occurred in the Norte de Santander department. The first incident resulted in the deaths of the officers, while in a separate neighborhood, two soldiers sustained injuries.

Colombian media has circulated images showing damaged road infrastructure at the explosion site.

According to preliminary investigations, Ospina indicated that these attacks represented "retaliation" by the ELN guerrilla group "in response to offensive police operations" targeting their organization.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has noted that Colombia is experiencing intensified hostilities and a "sharp deterioration of the humanitarian situation," as stated by ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric during her recent visit to the country.

The ELN, which has maintained armed operations since 1964, had been engaged in peace negotiations with President Petro's government. However, these talks collapsed following an attack earlier this year in Catatumbo, also located in Norte de Santander, which resulted in nearly 100 casualties.

The ELN is currently competing for control of the Venezuelan border with the "33rd Front," one of several dissident factions of the formerly active Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that rejected the 2016 peace agreement between the guerrillas and the government.

On Saturday, another explosive attack occurred in Cauca, in Colombia's southwestern region, leaving seven individuals injured.

President Petro announced that an indictment against "Ivan Mordisco," the top leader of the FARC dissidents, and other leaders within the group on charges of "narco-terrorism" is prepared for submission to the International Criminal Court. However, he did not specify when the formal filing would take place.