6 soldiers injured after military chopper crashes in Colombia, 11 missing

At least 11 Colombian military personnel are missing and six have been injured after a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during an operation against guerrillas in the southeast of Colombia on July 21. The helicopter crashed in the Guaviare jungle of Mitu, a rural province along the Inirida River, and had 17 military personnel onboard as it went down, armed forces high command said in a press release.  

Unfortunately, we have found the bodies of nine of our personnel, a military spokesperson said on Twitter. 

According to reports, the Colombian military did not mention if the helicopter crashed due to technical failure or was shot down. President of Colombia, Ivan Duque, expressed his condolences on Twitter as he described the crash “an accident.” He further said that the soldiers aboard the helicopter were on a military operation against the “illegals.” 

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According to reports, the army was on a mission against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissidents. While the FARC rebels had signed a historic peace treaty in 2016 to halt armed activities in the region against the government that ceased half a century’s conflict, as many as 2,000 dissidents had refused to comply with deal and formed a rebel communist political party. Further, the authorities said that the conflict groups funnelled finances via illegal activities such as drug-trafficking and illegal mining. And hence, the armed forces on the operation were headed to cleanse drug plantations sites. 

Army's air assault division, in an official statement, said that it was "on site beginning the corresponding investigations to determine the circumstances regarding the time, manner and place that the events occurred." Armed forces' top commander, General Luis Fernando Navarro, reportedly arrived at a military base nearby to inspect the site and direct maneuvers in order to "recover the missing soldiers". Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo took to Twitter and said at least six injured service personnel were rescued at the site and were transferred to Bogota for medical supervision.  

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