Small drones, sometimes carrying explosives, increasingly fly over civilian areas in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, where armed groups and the state have long clashed. Residents often hear the drones before seeing them, and black dots in the distance can approach homes. The sound triggers immediate fear and attempts to hide, including running to the only solid space in a house. A mother describes drones as capable of destroying anything nearby and questions how a five-year-old can live with that fear. Drone use has risen sharply amid the ongoing internal conflict, with the Ministry of Defence reporting thousands of weaponized drone attacks and a large increase in effective strikes compared with the previous year.
"Whenever a low, bumblebee-like thrum cuts through the quiet of Sandra Montoya's home near Tibu in Colombia's Catatumbo region, the sound stiffens her body. She instinctively reaches for her young son. The noise always emerges from a small mountain behind her home, part of a tree-quilted landscape stitched with winding rivers along Colombia's border with Venezuela. "I always hear them before I see them, if I see them at all," she says."
"Drones some laden with explosives regularly trace across the skies above Catatumbo, a region long marked by clashes between rival armed groups and the state. The menacing mechanical whir sends her young son running to the toilet to hide. It's the only solid, concrete space in their small home of wooden planks. "The drones can destroy anything here," says Montoya, who used a pseudonym due to security fears. "But I had to tell him something. How is it possible for a five-year-old to live with that kind of fear?""
"The use of drones or uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) has risen sharply in the last year as Colombia continues to contend with a decades-long internal conflict. The country's Ministry of Defence reported 8,395 weaponised drone attacks in 2025, 333 of which were "effective" in striking their target. This marks a 445 percent increase over 2024, when 61 effective incidents were recorded."
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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