The strike in El Tambo

President Abelardo de la Espriella said on Thursday, 22 October 2026, that military forces had killed nine members of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) in a bombing in rural El Tambo, in the Cauca department of southwestern Colombia. He announced the result in a post on X, where he also shared a video of a call in which Defense Minister General Eduardo Mora asked for his authorization to launch the strike. Le Temps reported that the bombing took place overnight, while the president's post described the call as taking place in the early hours.

Alleged senior figure among the dead

De la Espriella said the dead included an alias, Marcos Pacífico, whose identity still awaits confirmation through fingerprint analysis. He described Pacífico as the deputy commander and military chief of the ELN's Southwest War Front and the head of the José María Becerra front, and said he was responsible for three narco-terrorist fronts operating in Cauca, Nariño and Valle del Cauca. According to the president, Pacífico was linked to kidnappings and attacks on security forces in the cities of Cali and Buenaventura. The president summed up the result in these words:

“This result represents a forceful blow to the ELN's military structure, its territorial command and its urban networks in the Colombian Pacific.”

Conflicting figures and a series of strikes

Europa Press reported the same day that the bombing hit ELN positions in Nariño and left at least eight dead, which does not match the nine killed in Cauca announced by the president. According to Europa Press, Thursday's strike is the fifth air bombing ordered by de la Espriella against armed groups since he took office. The first, against the ELN in Guaviare, took place on 10 August, three days after he was sworn in. A second bombing in late August in Guaviare killed 10 people, three of them minors, two aged 15 and one aged 16, according to Notícias ao Minuto and Deutsche Welle. The fourth, in the Catatumbo region of Norte de Santander in early October, reportedly killed a 16-year-old girl, while Europa Press put that toll at four, including a minor.

Le Temps counted more than 50 deaths from the air strikes since de la Espriella took office, including at least seven minors, while Europa Press put the total closer to 60 across the five bombings. Both figures were published at the time of reporting and have not been updated in the articles.

Debate over minors and the ELN's background

Critics of the bombings point to the growing presence of minors within armed groups, which they link to forced recruitment. The government and previous administrations maintain that the strikes follow a strict protocol. Le Temps reports that the campaign has the backing of the United States and forms part of a hard-line policy against groups that stayed armed after the 2016 peace agreement disarmed the FARC. The ELN, described as the oldest guerrilla on the continent with more than six decades of activity, finances itself through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion, according to Le Temps. The group held peace talks with the previous left-wing government of Gustavo Petro without reaching an agreement.

Figures still unsettled

Pacífico's identity, the nine-person toll and the Nariño location reported by Europa Press remain unresolved in the articles. Europa Press said it was waiting for more information on the operation. The president's post also promised to pursue ELN members across Colombia and to dismantle their structures.