Colombian military bombs suspected rebel camp, killing 19

BBC:

At least 19 people have been killed in an air strike on a suspected rebel camp in Colombian province of Guaviare, according to the country’s military.

The attack targeted a dissident faction of the Farc rebel group, which engages in drug trafficking.

Colombia’s left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, had in the past been reluctant to use air strikes to hit rebel camps but following the breakdown of peace talks with several of Colombia’s armed groups, he gave the green light for the military offensive.

The air strike comes after the Trump administration accused Petro of allowing the drugs trade to expand, which the Colombian president has denied.

Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez said that President Petro had authorised the air strike after learning of “the imminent threat [the group] posed to the population and the security forces”.

Sánchez said that the camp belonged to members of a dissident group led by a commander known by the alias of Iván Mordisco.