The event took place in a raid against the crime of extortion of which merchants, transporters, ranchers and businessmen from this area bordering Casanare were being victims. Rifles, ammunition, material of military accessories and documentation of the organized armed group were found by troops.
Within the framework of institutional control operations and the fight against crimes that attack personal freedom, in compliance with the constitutional and legal function and obligation of the Military Forces to preserve the good conditions of the national territory, to ensure the necessary conditions for the exercise of public rights and freedoms throughout the national territory, framed within the Ayacucho Joint Strategic Campaign Plan -Tiempo 2-, the Military Forces engaged a combat against a group, apparently, belonging to the ELN in the rural area of Labranzagrande, Boyacá.
The Military Forces of the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) Casanare in coordination with the Air Force, the Police and the Prosecutor's Office arrived at the Guayabal village, where, thanks to information collected in investigative and judicial work, was known that the structure was extorting merchants, transporters, ranchers and businessmen of the border area of Boyacá and Casanare.
Upon arriving at the site, the criminals opened fire at the troops, which unleashed the combat. The members of the Military Forces immediately deployed their differential resources and carried out a tactical maneuver that led to taking over the place. The individuals, seeing themselves overcome, decided to flee. Two minors, aged 13 and 16 respectively, who had been forcibly recruited and forced to shoot and attack members of the Military Forces, were abandoned by their companions.
Immediately, a special operation was organized to protect and evacuate the newly recovered minors, who were taken under all the security protocols arranged to provide support in this kind of situation. The two recovered minors were put into custody of the authorities for the respective restoration of their rights.
At the scene, the Military Forces found three rifles (one of them with a high-precision sight), a pistol, ammunition of different calibers, magazines, communications equipment, as well as bracelets and notebooks alluding to the ELN. This action leads to see the cowardly criminal act of this illegal group in this area of the country, which uses minors to carry out operations against the inhabitants and the Military Forces.
So far this year, the Military forces have recovered 238 minors who had been forcibly recruited by different organized armed groups that commit crimes in the country.
