Security update
October 6: two soldiers killed and three massacres
Here's what else happened in the past week, and what each one means.
1Two soldiers killed in three days
On October 3, a drone attack killed professional soldier Samuel Pinzón Barliza Ipuana and wounded another in rural Neiva, Huila. The army blames the Ismael Ruiz Front of Mordisco's FARC dissidents. On October 5, professional soldier Brayan Ome Rojas was killed in combat with Calarcá's dissidents near San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá. The army captured two of them.
What it meansThe army is fighting both dissident factions at once, Mordisco's and Calarcá's. Since 2024, drones alone have killed 22 soldiers and wounded 342.
2Drones hit two police stations in one day
At about 1 AM on October 5, drones dropped explosives on the police station in Aguachica, Cesar. It was the second attack on that station in about 10 days. A prisoner was wounded, and three others escaped from the cells. Investigators are looking at the ELN, and there's a 150 million peso reward for information. At 5 PM, drones hit the police station in Aipe, Huila. No one was hurt.
What it meansAguachica is the base of the new 1,200-troop task force against the ELN. It starts in a town that's already under attack. By mid-September, armed groups had carried out 292 drone attacks this year, more than in all of 2025.
3Three massacres in five days
On September 30 in Sevilla, Valle del Cauca, gunmen killed a police officer and two brothers inside a business. On October 1, four young men were shot dead on a rural road outside Cartagena. On the night of October 4, armed men walked into a business in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, and opened fire. Three people were killed.
What it meansIndepaz has counted 96 massacres this year, more than the 78 in all of 2025. Two of Mordisco's fronts, Jaime Martínez and Dagoberto Ramos, operate around Santander de Quilichao.
4A Russian thrown out
On September 30, police captured a Russian citizen, Sergei Vagin. The president says intelligence reports link him to spying, to contacts with the ELN and to paying for vandalism during the 2021 national strike. He's being expelled as a threat to national security, and he faces charges over a betting fraud of about 1,600 million pesos.
What it meansForeigners who work with the armed groups now risk being thrown out of the country.
51.4 tons of cocaine seized in Palmira
Police and prosecutors seized 1,412 kilos of cocaine from a truck in rural Palmira, Valle del Cauca, and captured alias "Transportador," of the Gulf Clan's (Clan del Golfo) Valle network. The load was headed for Central and North America.
What it meansThat's money the Gulf Clan won't have for weapons and fighters.
The scorecard
Kidnappings from January 1 to August 28: 238, down from 432 in the same months of 2025. In Cauca, they fell from 127 to 34. Bogotá had 73 homicides in September, the fewest of any September since 2003. It had 84 a year earlier and 129 in September 2024.
What it meansKidnapping and murder in the capital are down. In the countryside, the attacks keep growing.
On social media
He hasn't posted about Monday's drone attacks or the soldier killed in Caquetá. His last security post, on Monday evening, was about the new task force: "In my government, it won't be the people who feel the weight of terrorism. It'll be the terrorists who feel the full weight of the State's lawful action." It has nearly 40,000 views and 3,400 likes, and the replies are all support. One: "Of course, full support. We Colombians only accept being subject to paying taxes and to the security forces. The free-for-all of private armies collecting taxes and extortion is over." The complaint, again, is about the justice system: "President, put forward a bill to remove the attorney general early. With her, nothing moves forward against the guerrillas. She has everything shelved." (5 likes) His next three posts were about other things: the National Land Agency ("how they stole Colombians' money"), housing for earthquake victims in Risaralda, led by the First Lady, and hiring on merit at the family welfare agency (ICBF). The land agency post drew the most: 120,000 views and 5,900 likes.
I support most of this. But it doesn't go far enough. These groups use any space they're given to reset and grow. They need to be crushed, not contained.