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Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella announced that military forces had eliminated Hernando Forero Mosquera, known as “El Ruso,” along with five other suspected members of illegal armed groups in coordinated operations this weekend. The president described Forero as an explosives expert whose death formed part of an immediate push against criminal networks profiting from drug trafficking and illegal mining. De la Espriella stated that the strikes delivered “a clear and powerful message to all bandits that there is nowhere for them to hide,” according to a video he posted to social media. Military intelligence identified Forero as commander of the Frente 28, a faction that split from the main Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after its 2016 peace agreement with the government.
Forero’s group forms part of the dissident structures that rejected the 2016 deal and have since expanded their involvement in cocaine production and illicit resource extraction across central regions. InSight Crime estimates place total FARC dissident membership at around 5,200 fighters, many concentrated in departments such as Meta where the primary action against Forero took place. These factions, along with groups like the Gulf Clan, have driven much of the violence resurgence that followed the peace accord, a Reuters analysis found. Three more dissidents died in the Meta engagement while separate forces killed two Gulf Clan members in Antioquia province, the presidency reported.
De la Espriella has rejected the negotiation-focused “total peace” policy of his predecessor Gustavo Petro, whose talks with armed organisations repeatedly collapsed after ceasefire breaches. A Reuters report documented how armed group numbers grew from approximately 15,000 in 2022 to 22,000 in 2025 during that period. The new administration instead pledged relentless military pressure including possible air strikes on criminal camps, a stance that received immediate defiance through weekend explosions. Human Rights Watch assessments have chronicled how such groups continue to recruit children and target social leaders amid the territorial disputes.
A car bomb struck a tollbooth in Cauca province on Saturday, wounding two security personnel, while a police officer died in Cesar province after explosives dropped from a drone, Al Jazeera reported. Those incidents occurred less than 24 hours after de la Espriella’s swearing-in and appeared calibrated to test the incoming government’s resolve. Officials tied the attacks to the same networks now facing intensified operations. ACLED data has shown civilian exposure to armed group violence persisting at high levels despite some fluctuations in overall fatalities.
The United States has moved quickly to back the new approach with the State Department pledging $1 billion in security assistance and welcoming Colombia into the “Shield of the Americas” alliance against transnational crime. De la Espriella, who holds dual US-Colombian citizenship, campaigned on closer military ties with Washington including potential resumption of aerial coca fumigation. This alignment matches his public admiration for US President Donald Trump and emphasis on subordinating counter-narcotics efforts to joint hemispheric action. The support arrives as Colombian forces resume aggressive postures that were scaled back under the prior administration.
Dissident factions and allied criminal organisations maintain presence in more than a quarter of Colombian municipalities where they impose curfews, extort businesses and control illicit economies, according to Atlantic Council research. The weekend operations in Meta and Antioquia highlight the new president’s intent to contest those areas directly rather than through dialogue. Further actions are expected as intelligence continues to map leadership structures within the fragmented dissident landscape that emerged after the 2016 demobilisation.
