Tobias Sylvester
An armed group has attacked a United Nations convoy in southeastern Colombia, setting fire to two vehicles, burning two vehicles but not harming any worker.
Armed Group Attack UN Convoy
It was gathered that the Un convoy had been travelling to the rural area of Guayabero to meet with communities when it was stopped by the armed group in the town of Puerto Nuevo, located in a rural area of the Guaviare department.
The United Nations said the incident happened on Thursday when its workers were travelling with members of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs and the Norwegian Refugee Council when “they were approached by armed men who made them get out of their vehicle.”
“Two of the three vehicles were set on fire” by the perpetrators, the statement said. Members of the convoy, however, “returned unharmed” to their offices.
Senior presidential adviser Emilio Archila told local radio that the “criminals presented themselves as dissidents” of the former FARC guerrillas, under the command of Gentil Duarte, one of Colombia’s most wanted men.
The UN mission did not give any details on any affiliation alleged by the group, but said it “firmly rejects the attack suffered by our team” and condemned any attempts by “illegal armed groups” to intimidate UN and humanitarian agencies.
Created under the 2016 peace agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government of Nobel Peace Prize winner and then-president Juan Manuel Santos, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia monitors implementation of the accord, which led to the disarmament of some 7,000 guerrillas.
KanyiDally had also reported how an Italian ambassador, Luca Attanasio, was shot dead while traveling in a UN convoy on his way to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
