Global Intelligence Summary

On 27 August, Colombia President Abelardo de la Espriella announced that Colombia’s Armed Forces had conducted a military strike against a FARC dissident faction in the southern department of Guaviare, killing 11. According to a statement by de la Espriella, the operation was conducted early on 27 August in El Retorno against camps associated with the Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc, part of the Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frentes (EMBF), led by Alexander Díaz Mendoza (alias Calarcá), one of Colombia’s most senior FARC dissident commanders.

The operation consisted of an air strike against three encampment areas, followed by the insertion of ground forces to secure and search the sites. Among those killed was Juan Antonio Agudelo Salazar (alias Urías Perdomo), described by Colombian authorities as Calarcá’s right-hand man. Authorities initially reported recovering 11 rifles, five machine guns, and significant quantities of other military equipment.

Another airstrike was conducted overnight on 30–31 August in Lagos del Dorado, Miraflores municipality, Guaviare. The strike targeted the Carolina Ramírez Front, part of the Iván Mordisco-led Estado Mayor Central (EMC) FARC dissident faction. 20 militants were reportedly killed, five captured, and two minors were rescued. A separate operation on 30 August in the Valle del Cauca department resulted in the death of a senior commander within the Jaime Martínez Front (JMF), alias Felipe, who was also aligned with Mordisco’s EMC faction.

Solace Global Assessment: 

The operation by the recently elected de la Espriella likely signals the beginning of a broader anti-militant offensive, with the president stating that “Colombia must know that we are going on the offensive”, adding that the “major commanders and their criminal structures will have nowhere to hide and no sanctuary anywhere in the national territory”. This is part of the broader new “Iron Fist” approach against militant groups, a departure from his predecessor’s flagship “Total Peace” approach, which was launched after he took office in August 2022.

The targeting of Urías Perdomo and Felipe highly likely indicates that the operation was part of the government’s security strategy for de la Espriella’s first 100 days in office, which includes 15 major operations aimed at disrupting armed organisations and targeting their senior commanders. These operations also follow renewed military cooperation with the US under the new president, which may have contributed to improved intelligence-sharing and target identification.

While there is currently no public evidence that US forces directly supported either operation, the strikes coincided with a visit by US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) chief General Francis Donovan, and followed the 12 August announcement that Colombia had authorised joint US-Colombian military operations against designated “narcoterrorist” organisations. Moreover, the Mordisco-led EMC is designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and Mordisco himself is designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, likely indicating that both the EMC and its leader are priority targets for US-Colombian security cooperation.

The EMC remains one of Colombia’s largest and most active militant groups, with an established presence in the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño, Guaviare, Meta, and Arauca. Under Mordisco, the EMC has been implicated in multiple attacks and offensives. While the majority have been against the security forces in rural areas, the EMC has also demonstrated its capability to conduct attacks in urban centres and has previously targeted civilians. Recent attacks attributed to Mordisco and the EMC include a series of 24 coordinated attacks across Cauca and Valle del Cauca in June 2025, which included bombings in Cali; the August 2025 truck bombing outside the Marco Fidel Suárez Air Base in Cali, which killed six civilians; and the April 2026 bombing of the Pan-American Highway in Cajibío, Cauca, which killed 20 civilians.

The EMC has previously threatened that expanded government operations or attempts to kill or capture senior leadership will result in retaliatory action against state officials and a broader escalation in EMC tactics. Mordisco himself has threatened to kill politicians, journalists, and other entities cooperating with the government. While this is primarily likely rhetoric aimed at deterring the government from increasing military pressure, further attacks against security forces, government infrastructure, and transport routes are likely in areas of established militant activity, particularly Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Guaviare, where the EMC are highly active.

There is also a realistic possibility of renewed coordinated or high-impact attacks in urban centres, including Cali, to deter government operations, particularly if Colombian forces kill or capture additional senior commanders. Likely indicative of this threat, on 29 August police intercepted a motorcycle carrying explosives on the Jamundí-Cali Road and apprehended a suspected militant of the EMC’s JMF, with the authorities stating that the explosives were going to be used to conduct attacks in Cali itself.