This grim reality was made evident in late January when the army seized more than 2,600 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including landmines belonging to the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) in Tibú, in the Catatumbo region. Just days earlier, authorities had confiscated 300 landmines in the same area from FARC dissidents. Roads, rural paths, and farms in the region have become impassable.

The increase in demining efforts, landmine seizures, and suspected minefields reported by Colombian authorities in 2024 underscores that, despite the historic decline in landmine use since the 2016 Peace Agreement, criminal groups in the country continue to deploy these devices in their territorial disputes.

Throughout 2024, Colombia’s Office of the High Commissioner for Peace reported 998 incidents related to anti-personnel mines (APMs) and unexploded ordnance (UXO), including demining activities, reports of suspected minefields, and the seizure of these devices, most of which were handmade.

These figures represent an over 11% increase compared to the previous year, which saw 896 incidents. The upward trend has continued since 2021, when 316 incidents were recorded, followed by 412 in 2022. Experts consulted by InSight Crime agree that no single factor explains this surge.

A staggering 94% of the reported incidents were related to demining operations. Increased military activity in strategic areas and greater accessibility to former conflict zones—once heavily mined during the war between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) and the state before the 2016 Peace Agreement—account for many of these cases. However, other areas remain inaccessible to both military and humanitarian demining operations due to the control exerted by armed groups.

In Cauca and Nariño, the number of incidents surpassed those recorded immediately after the Peace Agreement: 58 and 69 incidents, respectively, that year. A similar trend has been seen in other departments with lower historical mine activity, such as Guaviare, Casanare, Bolívar, and Cesar.

Although Colombia signed the Ottawa Treaty banning the use and destruction of anti-personnel mines in 1997, it wasn’t until 2016 that the country’s largest guerrilla group and primary user of landmines—the FARC—committed to demining efforts as part of their demobilization.

“In the years following the Peace Agreement, the impact of landmines had dropped dramatically. Now, we are seeing figures reminiscent of the early post-agreement period, with the added problem that today, civilians are more affected than military personnel,” said Camilo Serna, director of the Colombian Campaign Against Mines (Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas), in an interview with InSight Crime.

Below are the three main reasons why landmine use has resurged in Colombia.

1. Criminal Disputes

Military pressure and ongoing territorial disputes in an increasingly fragmented criminal landscape have led some armed groups to resume planting landmines.

In Arauca, bordering Venezuela, authorities reported 101 incidents, mostly in the municipalities of Arauquita and Puerto Rondón, where the ELN’s Eastern War Front (Frente de Guerra Oriental) and the FARC dissidents’ 10th and 28th Fronts operate.

In Cauca and Nariño, key departments for coca cultivation, cocaine production, and trafficking corridors to Ecuador, 142 and 318 incidents were recorded, respectively. Most incidents occurred in the municipalities of Argelia and Tumaco, where FARC dissident factions and the ELN are locked in violent battles for control of these illicit economies.

SEE ALSO: BACRIM Turn to Landmines in Colombia

“Today, armed groups are fighting each other and using landmines against one another. It is no longer a tactical tool primarily used against government troops moving through an area,” Serna explained.

In Catatumbo, a strategic border region with Venezuela, the ELN’s Northeastern War Front (Frente de Guerra Nororiental) has been clashing with the FARC dissidents’ 33rd Front since early January. Landmine use in this area has also prevented authorities from conducting demining operations for years.

According to Colombia’s Deputy Inspector General for Peace Agreement Monitoring, Javier Sarmiento, who has been tracking the humanitarian crisis in Catatumbo, the presence of landmines has made it impossible for over 50,000 displaced people to return home safely.

In other strategic regions for organized crime—such as Chocó, Cauca, and Arauca—increased military presence and demining operations have prompted armed groups to use more explosives to defend their territories.

2. The Fragmentation of FARC Dissidents

In 2024, Colombian authorities attributed 618 landmine-related incidents to the various dissident factions of the FARC. These figures, alongside those from 2023 (638 incidents), mark the highest landmine use by these groups since the Peace Agreement. Before then, FARC dissidents had never been linked to more than 222 such incidents in a single year.

The fragmentation of these groups—previously divided between the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) and Segunda Marquetalia but now splintering even further—has fueled clashes where landmines are a key battlefield tactic.

The ELN, a long-time user of landmines, was responsible for 164 of the incidents recorded in 2024.

Beyond the ELN and FARC dissidents, other armed groups were responsible for 47 landmine-related incidents in 2024—the highest number ever recorded for this category.

SEE ALSO: Gaitanistas Landmines are Guerrilla Tactic from Colombia’s Dark Past

Among them, the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) stand out. Though they typically use direct armed force to exert control, their increasing involvement in landmine incidents suggests knowledge transfer. Following the FARC’s demobilization, some former guerrilla fighters were recruited by the AGC, bringing new tactics to the group’s military operations.

Disputed territories—where the ELN, FARC dissidents, and AGC are vying for control—are the main hotspots for landmine replanting in Colombia.

3. The Rise of IEDs

IEDs can be built using easily accessible materials, some of which have become more durable. Technological innovations, such as the use of PVC tubes, have extended the lifespan of these devices by better protecting the internal ignition mechanisms, which may include electronic triggers or more sophisticated pressure-activated systems.

“It is now extremely difficult to control because numerous groups and individuals know how to build both command-detonated improvised explosive devices and victim-activated landmines,” an anti-personnel mine expert told InSight Crime on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.

In the end, the combination of ongoing armed group conflicts, tactical knowledge transfer between the key former FARC factions at the heart of the conflict, and the ease of manufacturing these devices has severely hindered Colombia’s demining efforts.

This article, written by Beatriz Vicent Fernández, was originally published by InSight Crime, a Medellín-based foundation dedicated to the investigation and analysis of crime and security in Colombia and Latin America. It has been generously shared with Finance Colombia under a Creative Commons license.

In the last weeks there were three attacks against the Caño Limón – Coveñas system in the villages of Las Acacias, Guamalito and La Ceiba, in the municipality of Arauquita.

• • Cenit has suffered 7 attacks in the past week against the Caño Limón-Coveñas & Bicentenario pipelines in Arauca, Norte de Santander, & Boyacá.
  • Colombia’s petroleum infrastructure has already suffered 25 attacks in 2020
  • The Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic has made it more difficult to access the affected areas.

In addition, on Saturday afternoon there were disturbances in the village of El Consuelo, municipality of Saravena, which are being addressed by “specialized personnel,” according to Cenit.

The attacks also affected the operations of the Bicentenario pipeline, at the Altos Del Paraiso site in the village of Palo de Agua, municipality of Fortul, for a total of five registered attacks against the Arauca oil infrastructure.

Other attacks were confirmed at the village of Puerto Nuevo, municipality of Cubará in Boyaca, and in the village of San Carlos, municipality of El Tarra in Norte de Santander.

There was a total of six attacks perpetrated against the Caño Limón-Coveñas system and one against the Bicentenario pipeline.

Hector Manosalva Rojas, CEO of Cenit, stated that “we emphatically reject these attacks against the country’s pipelines, which are creating negative social, economic and environmental impacts, even more so during the crisis the country is facing due to COVID-19, which makes it more difficult to perform repairs with our technical personnel on site. This stage we are living in

Colombia should encourage us to prioritize people’s lives and integrity, as well as care for the environment.”

Cenit sent technical and operations personnel to the attacked locations to perform inspection activities, guaranteeing the necessary control measures were in place to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, National Army troops traveled to the sites under siege to provide security and guarantee the personnel’s safe arrival.

As soon as the facts were known, the company advised the municipal risk and disaster management councils and the Autonomous Regional Corporation of Orinoquía, where the corresponding contingency plans were activated.

Furthermore, as part of the contingency plan, the Community Action Councils were contacted to advise the community about the facts and to enable technical personnel’s access to address the issues.

In a statement, Cenit rejected “these illegal actions that jeopardize the integrity of the population, cause serious consequences on the environment, and affect the activities of the community and the oil industry.” The company asked the surrounding community to stay in quarantine and avoid visiting the areas where the attacks were perpetrated.

The wells are held jointly with U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) and have reached a combined 2,800 barrels of oil per day in initial testing.

Two wells, REX NE-01ST2 and Cosecha V-01, are located in the Arauca municipality of Arauquita with the REX discovery yielding the bulk of production at around 2,000 barrels of oil per day. Cosecha has recorded an output of 600 barrels per day, said Ecopetrol in a statement.

The third well, Infantas Oriente-1 in Santander, has only produced 200 barrels per day. But its commercial value remains viable nevertheless, according to Ecopetrol, given its location just 25 kilometers from the company’s refinery in Barrancabermeja and the presence of lighter crude.

Felipe Bayón Pardo, president of Ecopetrol, highlighted the new production as another positive development in the close relationship between the Colombian company and Oxy, which dates back to the early 1980s with the discovery of the Caño Limón oilfield.

“These three finds show that oil activity is being revitalized in two of the most traditional departments for this industry in Colombia, while confirming the benefits of the alliance between Ecopetrol and Oxy,” said Bayón.

After learning of the spill, Ecopetrol initiated its response plan set to protect the polluted waters from entering the Arauquita aqueduct that supplies many with drinking water.

Photo: Image of the oil spilled into the nearby river after the attack on the Caño Limón-Coveñas in Toledo. (Credit: Ecopetrol)

The company also notified and began working to mitigate environmental damage with public authorities in the towns of Cubará, Saravena, and Arauquita, and the departments of Norte de Santander and Arauca.

This marks the 46th attack on the oil transport system so far in 2017, according to Ecopetrol, and comes on the heels of two other attacks this month in Teorama in Norte de Santander and Saravena in Arauca.

In a statement, Ecopetrol said that it “rejects these illegal actions” that endanger people, damage the environment, and harm neighboring communities.

The company also revealed that it had identified an additional 10 holes, presumably made by those trying to siphon oil from the pipeline, in the Caño-Limón Coveñas pipeline.

Photo: Ecopetrol released an image of the area, highlighting where the seven reported attacks took place. (Credit: Ecopetrol)

Ecopetrol did not identify who committed to the attacks, but military sources, according to Reuters, believe that guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN) were responsible. The rebel group, which is expected to begin formal peace talks with the government on February 7, has attacked pipelines throughout the country in recent years.

The company says that it also found several valves that had been installed illicitly to siphon off oil. This method of stealing petroleum is a regular practice used by various criminal organizations. Ecopetrol noted in a statement that the valves often cause “great environmental damage by contaminating rivers and lands.”

With military assistance, technicians from the company are working to inspect and repair the pipeline. “Ecopetrol emphatically rejects these actions that endanger the lives of people, seriously affect the environment, and impede the well-being and development of communities,” said Ecopetrol in a statement.

Occidental Petroleum, a Houston-based energy company, transports oil through the pipeline from the Caño Limón field to the port of Covenas on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The firm says it has extracted some 1.3 billion barrels of oil from the field, the nation’s second largest, since its discovery in 1983.

Ecopetrol said that the Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline suffered 43 attacks during 2016 in the departments of Norte de Santander, Arauca, Boyacá, and Cesar. It also identified and removed 33 illicit valves last year.