Colombian military forces carried out bombing strikes near the border with Venezuela, killing nine people. The information was reported by Agence France-Presse, citing a source within the country’s Ministry of Defence.

According to the source, nine fighters from a group involved in drug trafficking were eliminated during the operation. He did not specify which organization the killed militants belonged to.

AFP notes that the operation took place in Colombia’s Arauca department and was part of President Gustavo Petro’s campaign against criminal networks engaged in the drug trade.

The agency also recalls that earlier this week, the Colombian armed forces launched airstrikes in the Amazon region, killing 19 members of a dissident faction that had broken away from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Colombia has been embroiled in armed conflict with various illegal armed groups for more than half a century. Over this period, more than 260,000 people have been killed and millions displaced. At its peak, FARC — formed in 1966 from peasant communist self-defence units — counted up to 20,000 fighters. Long negotiations between the government and the insurgents culminated in a peace agreement signed in 2016. After the demobilization of roughly 13,000 FARC members, the movement was transformed into the political party Comunes; however, more than 5,000 former combatants later returned to guerrilla activity and drug trafficking.