Eight Venezuelan soldiers were killed in clashes on the Colombian border
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The Ministry of Defense issued an announcement two days after denouncing the fierce fighting with “irregular armed groups in Colombia”.
Eight Venezuelan soldiers have been killed in clashes with armed groups operating on the Colombian border, and have doubled their toll since the attack on the fighters began in March, the Caracas defense ministry said.
The minister reported the names of the soldiers without giving further details, two days later denouncing the fierce fighting with “irregular armed groups in Colombia”, which resulted in a “large number” of deaths.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez took to public television to convey his condolences to the families of the soldiers, saying that “they were fulfilling their oath to defend the homeland until the last breath.”
If it has the Venezuelan armed forces he engages in quarrels With Colombian armed groups in the western border state of Apure, since March 21, thousands of civilians have fled to Colombia, displaced.
The operation has so far resulted in several arrests and the seizure of weapons, explosives and drugs, according to Caracas.
Venezuela does not name armed groups to blame for the riots, calling them “terrorists” or associating them with drug trafficking or Colombian President Ivan Duque.
However, Colombian security sources say they are probably dissidents of the rebel group of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), which has disappeared, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has acknowledged.
The FARC signed a historic peace agreement in 2016 with Bogota to end the mid-century armed conflict.
But some fighters refused to join the peace process and continued to fight while mingling and fighting with drug traffickers in illegal areas of Colombia.
Diplomatic relations between Latin American neighbors have not existed since Colombia joined the United States and other countries since opposition leader Juan Guaido was named president of Venezuela in 2019.
Bogota has long accused Venezuela of arming members of the FARC and ELN rebel armed groups on its land, an accusation that Maduro denies.
Maduro said earlier this month that Venezuela would call for “immediate assistance” from the United Nations, saying armed groups had been planted in Venezuelan territory to clean up the pain against workers.
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