FARC Leader Leider Johany Noscue Killed in Colombia Military Operation: President Ivan Duque

FARC leader Leider Johany Noscue was killed during a military operation in Colombia's southwest area.

FARC or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is considered a group made up of Colombian rebel dissidents. They laid down their arms in a 2016 peace deal with the state.

Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Twitter that Noscue was "one of the most wanted criminals in the country," according to an Aljazeera News report.

In 2016, Colombia signed a peace agreement with the FARC to end a decades-long battle but some dissident members of the rebel group have chosen not to acknowledge it.

Ever since, the country has seen an uptick in violence as armed groups fight for territorial control of key areas, with human rights activists and Indigenous land defenders facing often deadly attacks.

FARC Leader Leider Johany Noscue

Noscue, also known as Mayimbu, was killed in mountainous terrain close to the Suarez municipality in Colombia's Cauca province, according to the president. Mayimbu was accused by authorities of murdering soldiers and community leaders, as well as kidnapping, extortion, and cocaine trafficking.

NASDAQ reported that the Colombian government had offered a reward of $256,000 for information regarding Mayimbu's whereabouts.

Duque said in a video address that the operation showed that symbols of evil continue to fall wherever they are found, adding that they will have no "hiding place," and "they will have no refuge."

Defense Minister Diego Molano said that Mayimbu was one of Colombia's worst criminals and had terrorized people living in the provinces of Cauca, Valle el Cauca, and Narino.

Mayimbu commanded 12 FARC dissident structures, which include more than 1,800 combatants, according to the commander of Colombia's military, general Luis Fernando Navarro.

In December 2021, another leader of Colombia's FARC has been killed in an ambush in Venezuela. BBC News noted that the FARC leader was Hernan Dario Velasquez, also known as El Paisa. El Paisa was reportedly shot dead in Venezuela's Apure state.

Local media believed that the mercenaries may have killed Velasquez, particularly those seeking rewards for his capture.

Colombian authorities said at the time that they would not confirm El Paisa's death until officials had seen his body.

The FARC rebels were a Marxist group that waged a war against the Colombian government for over 50 years.

Colombia and FARC

Human Rights Watch's report noted more than 300 former FARC fighters had been killed as of August 2020.

In August 2019, FRAC's former second-in-command Luciano Marin Arango said that he would be taking up arms again.

From 2002 to 2008, army brigades across Colombia routinely killed civilians in what is known as "false positive" killings due to under pressure from superiors to show "positive results" and improve body counts in their war against guerillas.

The Attorney General's Office had opened over 2,000 investigations into reported unlawful killings by army personnel from 2002 to 2008.

It had achieved 900 convictions in cases against more than 1,600 mid- and low-level soldiers.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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