Colombia president’s helicopter hit by gunfire

On Jun 26, 2021 9:35 AM

Colombia's new President Ivan Duque delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at Bolivar Square in Bogota, on August 7, 2018. Duque has his work cut out for him as he takes office Tuesday amid heightened tensions with neighbouring Venezuela and the lingering difficulties of peace-building with the nation's rebel groups. / AFP PHOTO / Raul Arboleda

SANAA, Jun. 26 (YPA) – Colombian President Iván Duque said on Friday that a helicopter carrying him was hit by several bullets in an attack, Reuters reported.

The incident took place while the president’s helicopter was flying through Colombia’s Catatumbo region toward the city of Cucuta, capital of the country’s Norte de Santander province, Duque said.

“What’s clear is that this is a cowardly attack where bullet holes can be seen in the presidential aircraft,” Duque added.

As well as Duque, the helicopter was carrying other officials including Defense Minister Diego Molano, Interior Minister Daniel Palacios, and governor of Norte de Santander Silvano Serrano.

The troubled Catatumbo region, on Colombia’s border with Venezuela, is home to extensive coca crops, the chief ingredient of cocaine.

It is where guerrillas of the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) operate, former FARC fighters who reject a 2016 peace deal with the government, along with armed criminal groups involved in drug trafficking.

E.M