Drones become the latest weapon in Colombia conflict (21/6/2025)

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00:00A mortar bomb being dropped in Colombia.

00:07It explodes.

00:09A figure is seen running away.

00:12The mortar bomb was dropped from a drone.

00:21Quadcopter drones have become a weapon of choice

00:24for the guerrilla groups still fighting in Colombia's armed conflict.

00:27Initially for reconnaissance, but also to attack.

00:36By attaching projectiles like this mortar bomb to the drones,

00:41which then drop them over a target.

00:44Drone attacks have been on the rise since 2024

00:47and are beginning to transform the decades-old conflict.

00:57Colombia's internal conflict has been going on for 60 years.

01:02In 2016, the government and the FARC guerrilla group

01:05signed a historic peace accord.

01:08But other smaller groups kept fighting,

01:10and some former FARC guerrillas have taken up arms again.

01:15By the end of 2024,

01:17armed groups were present in 71% of Colombia's municipalities.

01:21The armed groups' principal targets are the police and the army.

01:34And each other.

01:40But the drone attacks also take a toll on civilians,

01:43especially in the regions of Cauca and Catatumbo.

01:46Luis Ernesto Mendoza was 73 years old.

01:51On March 27th,

01:53his home was hit by a projectile dropped from a drone.

01:57He was wounded in the arm and neck.

02:00He was taken to hospital.

02:02His arm was amputated,

02:03and he died two days later.

02:06Children have also been hit,

02:08in this case at a football ground

02:10at a town in Cauca.

02:11The boy's name was Dilan Camilo Erasoyela.

02:16He was 10 years old.

02:18Civilian deaths remain low for the time being.

02:23But there have been dozens of people wounded.

02:28Lina Mejía Torres works for an NGO

02:30that tracks the conflict in the Catatumbo region.

02:33No hemos hasta ahora registrado un ataque

02:35pues absolutamente dirigido a un civil.

02:38Sin embargo,

02:39si sabes que vas a impactar un alto

02:41en una zona que tiene una alta densidad poblacional,

02:45es evidente que vas a atacar también a la población civil.

02:52Eso en ningún momento

02:54respeta el tema de la proporcionalidad,

02:58lo de distinción,

02:59digamos esas reglas básicas

03:00que en teoría habían respetado los grupos armados.

03:02We spoke to a civilian in the region

03:05who are concealing his identity

03:07for security reasons.

03:19Residents of the region have for years

03:21faced the danger of stepping on a landmine

03:23or getting caught in crossfire.

03:26Podemos visualizar el terreno minado.

03:30Por ejemplo,

03:31ellos colocaban un letrero en las vías

03:34y la población civil no ingresa al sitio.

03:37Podemos oír el sonido de las vanas

03:45y solamente pronto a veces

03:48con refugiarse detrás de una pared

03:50ya estamos salvaguardando la vida.

03:52Con los drones es diferente.

03:54No sabemos en qué momento llegan

03:56en donde los van a descargar

03:57porque es aire.

03:59No se ven.

04:00The Cauca region

04:02has been the hardest hit

04:03by drone attacks

04:04with 59 attacks

04:06reported in the first

04:07four months of 2025.

04:09The attacks have been in areas

04:13where coca is grown,

04:14the crop that is used

04:15to produce cocaine.

04:18The lucrative drugs trade

04:20is intrinsically linked

04:21to the violence.

04:23The drone attacks

04:24are mostly the work

04:25of the FARC dissidents,

04:27fighters who rejected

04:28the peace treaty,

04:29and the ELN,

04:30a group active

04:31since the 1960s.

04:33The guerrilla fighters

04:35have a long history

04:36of using homemade weapons

04:38such as gas canisters.

04:41Drones are similarly available.

04:45Adquirir un drone

04:45es muy fácil.

04:47Y al comprarlo,

04:49tiene unos costos muy bajos

04:50en relación a

04:51el armamento convencional.

04:54Se dice que un drone

04:55es el misil del pobre.

04:57Lo que han hecho ellos

04:57es tratar de tener

04:59una pequeña fuerza aérea.

05:00Están usando los drones

05:01comerciales de la marca

05:03adecuada

05:03y un drone de fabricación chino.

05:05Cualquier persona

05:06en una semana

05:07ya los puede operar

05:08de manera efectiva.

05:09Y también han desarrollado

05:11sus propios drones.

05:13The groups performed tests

05:16like here in 2023.

05:23The Colombian authorities

05:25have started purchasing

05:26anti-drone weapons,

05:28devices that jam

05:29the electronic signal

05:30controlling the drone.

05:33But experts say

05:34the countermeasures

05:35are too late

05:35and too few.

05:38Other,

05:39more sophisticated drones

05:40are likely to appear,

05:41like first-person view drones

05:43used on the battlefield

05:44in Ukraine.

05:45No tenemos hasta hoy

05:48drones FPV

05:49impactando

05:50contumidas militares

05:51drones FPV

05:52para los que no hay

05:53sistemas

05:54anti-drones

05:55efectivos

05:56en este momento

05:57acá en el país.

05:58There are also

05:59fiberoptic drones

06:00which use a long

06:01filament

06:01instead of a radio

06:02transmitter

06:03and cannot be jammed.

06:05If or when

06:06Colombia's guerrillas

06:07learn to use

06:08these more sophisticated drones,

06:10experts say

06:10it could tip the balance

06:12on the battlefield

06:12in their favor.

06:13In their favor.

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