In the borderlands of Norte de Santander, where the Colombian state has long competed with armed groups for legitimacy and territory, a drone strike on a military compound in Ocaña killed three soldiers and wounded four on a Friday night in early September 2026. Authorities attributed the attack to the ELN, a guerrilla organization that has endured for more than six decades and now contests control of the coca-rich Catatumbo region alongside Farc dissident factions. The strike was not an isolated act of violence but the latest in a sequence of coordinated assaults on state security infrastruct
Drone attack on Colombian military compound kills three soldiers, ELN blamed
At least three soldiers killed and four wounded in the drone and ground attack; one additional civilian killed and 11 injured in separate car bombing earlier in the week.