At least eleven injured on the first day of the ‘armed strike’ imposed by the ELN in Colombia

MADRID, Feb. 23 (Royals Blue) –

At least eleven people, including four policemen, have been injured during the first day of the ‘armed strike’ of the three announced by the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) to protest against the economic and social policies of the Government of Colombia.

The guerrilla has scattered several explosive devices throughout various regions of western Colombia, the first of them in the city of Cúcuta, where the first of the wounded agents has been registered, Caracol Radio reports.

Throughout the day, other incidents have occurred in various regions of the country, especially in the west and southwest of Colombia. Some of the main access roads in the department of Cauca have been blocked with burning vehicles, checkpoints and suspicious objects.

At the moment, the most violent episode has occurred in the municipality of San Gil, in the department of Santander (northeast), where a device has exploded when trying to be removed from the road that linked this town with that of Socorro, leaving serious injuries. to seven people.

Explosives experts from the Colombian National Police have been deployed in other areas of the interior and the Atlantic coast to deal with suspicious packages that have been appearing on the access roads to urban centers. In Cesar, the ELN has blown up a bridge that has left the municipality of Pailitas incommunicado.

Last weekend, the ELN guerrillas issued a statement in which they announced an ‘armed strike’ from this Wednesday to Friday in protest against “the bad” government of the president, Iván Duque, for which they asked citizens to They will not travel, except in case of medical or humanitarian necessity.

The government responded by emphasizing that it would forcefully respond to any action by the guerrillas and assured that there would be “political” interests behind it. The next legislative elections are held in just three weeks. “We wonder who they are doing the favor to,” Defense Minister Diego Molano asked.