2,000 land mines found in Colombia in 2011
September 19th, 2011 - 7:05 am ICT by IANSBogota, Sep 19 (IANS/EFE) The army has found a total of 1,961 land mines this year in a jungle province on Colombia’s southern border with Ecuador and Peru, a military spokesmen said.
The landmines were planted in Putumayo province by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The army’s offensive against the outfit prompted it to plant land mines indiscriminately in the province, army commander Gen. Jose Guillermo Delvasto said in a statement.
Troops have also seized 3,882 kg of explosives in Putumayo this year, he said.
The explosives could have been used to prepare more than 10,000 explosive devices, he said.
The UN says land mines have been planted in 31 of Colombia’s 32 provinces.
The FARC is on both the US and EU lists of terrorist groups. Drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping for ransom are the FARC’s main means of financing its operations.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: armed forces, army commander, bogota, drug trafficking, ecuador, explosive devices, explosives, extortion, farc, guerrillas, jungle, kg, land mines, landmines, military spokesmen, peru, ransom, revolutionary armed forces of colombia, southern border, terrorist groups