Targeted attacks on Colombian security forces leave 27 dead in two weeks

The Colombian government says 15 police officers and 12 soldiers have been killed over the past two weeks in targeted attacks it blames on armed groups.

President Gustavo Petro accused the Gulf Clan criminal gang and other armed groups of targeting members of the security forces in revenge for the recent killing of several of their leaders.

The government has offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of those behind the attacks.

Petro was elected on a promise to bring “total peace” to Colombia, but on Friday his interior minister acknowledged that the strategy was “not going well”, following the breakdown of talks with the Gulf Clan and several other armed groups.

Petro published a list on X of the names of the 15 police officers and 12 soldiers which he said had been “systematically” killed since 15 April.

According to the list, 10 of the police officers were murdered on duty, while five were killed off duty.

Seven of the soldiers on the list all died in a single ambush on Sunday in Guaviare province. The army has blamed that attack on a dissident Farc rebel group.

The Farc, short for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed a peace deal with the government in 2016 and most of its fighters laid down their arms.

But a considerable number of Farc rebels who did not agree with the deal formed dissident groups which have continued to fight the security forces.

In an effort to bring peace to Colombia, Petro’s government held talks with some of these dissident groups, as well as with rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN), and members of the Gulf Clan criminal gang.

But Petro suspended the talks with the ELN in January, accusing it of having “no will for peace”.

He also opted not to renew a ceasefire with a dissident Farc rebel group in April.

Talks with the Gulf Clan also stalled after police launched an operation against the group’s leader, known as “Chiquito Malo” (Spanish for “Bad Shorty”), in February.

Chiquito Malo escaped unharmed, but days later another senior leader, known as “Terror”, and his bodyguards were killed by police.

The Colombian government says that the Gulf Clan ordered its members to kill on- and off-duty police officers and soldiers in revenge for these operations.