Colombia's defence minister has blamed the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN, for a drone attack that killed three soldiers and seriously wounded 16 at an army base in the country's north. The strike is the latest in a series of attacks on security forces as violence rises across rural Colombia.

Explosive-laden drones hit the army compound in Santa Rosa del Sur, a gold-mining town in the southern part of Bolivar department, at around midday on Saturday, 7 November. The Colombian armed forces said in a statement that the drones had been modified to carry explosive devices. Footage from the base, reported by the Associated Press, showed smoke rising after three explosions, with soldiers taking cover in shelters made of sandbags.

Dead soldiers named

On Sunday, the army named the three soldiers who were killed as professional soldier Jairo Lince Carvajal and soldiers Dilan Andres Lozano Leon and Alvaro Pushaina. The latest official count, published by El Universal, lists 16 seriously wounded and 31 members of the unit affected in all. The town's mayor, Milton Olaya, put the number of injured at 35.

The compound is home to the army's 48th Jungle Battalion, which has come under drone attack in this municipality before. In August 2025, the ELN's Northeastern Front dropped explosives from drones on the battalion's troops in La Pradera, killing one soldier and wounding seven, according to the military. Drones carrying explosives killed another soldier in rural Santa Rosa del Sur and neighbouring Arenal del Sur in May 2026.

Minister links attack to arrest

Defence Minister Jorge Mora said the attack appeared to be the ELN's response to the capture of Leivis Enrique Valero Castillo, known as Carrito, whom the government accuses of being a leading figure in the finances of the ELN's Guamoco Resistance Front. He was arrested on Friday in Mina Nueva, in rural Santa Rosa del Sur, during an operation called Ocaso.

No group has publicly claimed the attack, and no ELN claim or denial had been found in Colombian or US coverage as of Monday, 9 November. President Abelardo de la Espriella, a conservative who took office in August, wrote on social media that those behind the attack would have "nowhere to hide" and promised: "For every attack, one bombardment."

Contested gold-mining region

Santa Rosa del Sur sits in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range, in an area rich in gold mines that has long been disputed by rebel armed groups, including the Gulf Clan, the ELN and smaller groups led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project counted 34 attacks with bombs or explosives by state forces and illegal armed groups in Colombia in the four weeks to 16 October.

The attack came as the United States helps Colombia go after the ELN. On 31 October, President de la Espriella watched three MQ-9A Reaper drones that Washington is lending Colombia fly over the Tolemaida military base. The aircraft arrived unarmed and are intended for surveillance, to help locate the camps of the ELN and other armed groups, as part of a joint exercise with US troops that runs until 11 November.

Anti-drone shield dispute

On Sunday, de la Espriella said his government was working on both anti-drone defences and offensive drones for the armed forces, but he gave no amount, funding source or timeline. He also said a $1.6 billion national anti-drone shield announced in January by his predecessor, Gustavo Petro, had produced nothing, a claim Petro disputes.

The defence ministry said in February that it had detected about 9,000 drone attack attempts in 2025 and blocked about 96 percent of them. Saturday's strike was at least the second deadly drone attack on an army compound in nine weeks that the authorities blamed on the ELN. On 4 September, explosives dropped from drones, followed by a clash inside a military compound in Ocana, Norte de Santander, killed three soldiers, the Associated Press reported.