Six people died in an explosive attack on a military facility in Cali and twelve police officers were killed after a helicopter was shot down in rural Antioquia. Attacks that were once localized in regions such as Catatumbo, Cauca, or Putumayo are spreading into major cities. Some dissident FARC groups are carrying out offensives outside their controlled areas. President Gustavo Petro characterized the Cali attack as a terrorist reaction linked to a military offensive he ordered. The government signaled it will treat dissidents, the Gulf Clan, and Second Marquetalia as terrorist organizations, raising questions about ongoing Gulf Clan talks in Qatar.
The attack in Cali shows that at least some groups of the dissident factions of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are seeking to go on the offensive against the state, carrying out attacks outside the areas they control. In recent years, only the ELN guerrilla group had conducted this type of action, and only occasionally, drawing strong public condemnation.
For now, the statement leaves questions about the talks that the government has reopened with Gulf Clan, which are currently taking place in Qatar. Early Thursday evening, acting Defense Minister Ana Catalina Cano reaffirmed the message. We are following the president's instruction that the dissidents of alias Ivan Mordisco, the Gulf Clan, and the Second Marquetalia will be considered terrorist organizations, prosecutable anywhere in the world for crimes against humanity, she said in a video released by the ministry.
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