This result of the military operation prevented the manufacture of at least 38,000 anti-personnel mines in the southwest of the country.
Within the framework of military operations aimed at countering the criminal operations of the organized armed groups in the department of Nariño, troops of the Mechanized Cavalry Group No. 3, unit a of the Twenty-Third Brigade, attached to the Third Division of Colombian National Army, found an illegal hiding place with abundant explosive material in the urban area of the municipality of Ipiales.
The operation was possible thanks to information obtained through military intelligence work that led to find a building that would be used to store supplies for the manufacture of improvised explosive devices, which would be used to attack the inhabitants and the units of the Military Forces.
Approximately 31,000 meters of security fuse, 800 kilograms of explosive mixture for industrial use, 19,000 common detonators, 3500 meters of detonating cord and more than 2500 kilograms of emulsion-type explosives were found by troops at the site. This material, which would be more than three tons, would belong to the residual organized armed group Comandos de Frontera that commits crimes in the region.
According to technical analysis, the elements would have the capacity to hit more than three million people. It should be noted that the indiscriminate use of this type of explosive devices constitutes a serious violation of human rights and a violation of international humanitarian law, so the respective denunciations are already being made to the authorities.
Colombian National Army's Explosive Ordnance Handling Group (MARTE) was at the site to carry out the technical destruction of the material, implementing the procedures established for this type of operations.
Source: Press – National Army
