BOGOTA: Colombian forces killed six members of armed groups on Sunday, President Abelardo de la Espriella announced, the opening salvo in a crackdown on crime just days after his inauguration.
The far-right leader took office on Friday vowing to crush criminal groups profiting from drug trafficking amid the South American country’s worst wave of violence of the past decade.
Sunday’s military operations are among the first by the new government against the illegal groups, and they mark “a clear and powerful message to all bandits,” De la Espriella said in a statement. “There is nowhere for them to hide.”
The tough-talking former lawyer campaigned on confronting “narcoterrorism without truce” and ending peace talks with armed groups following his inauguration in the southwestern city of Cali.
He has pledged to intensify airstrikes against guerrillas and drug traffickers operating in Colombia and to build mega-prisons similar to the one in El Salvador.
