Colombian President And Senior Officials Hit By Gunfire!!

Colombian President Ivan Duque said he and several senior officials were in the helicopter that carried him. Several officials were in safe conditions, including the president, Defense Minister Diego Molano, Interior Minister Daniel Palacios, and governor of the state of Norte Santander, Silvano Serrano. The three were aboard the helicopter, which was flying to a region near the border with Venezuela.

Bullets damaged a helicopter carrying Colombia’s president and other top officials. The bullets wounded the helicopter transporting him and numerous senior officers, including Defense Minister Diego Molano and several senior officers.

The helicopter carrying Colombian President Ivan Duque and several other government officials was shot down on Friday as he wrestled with widespread anti-government protests and clashes between the military and rebels, he said on Twitter. A video released by the presidential office showed several bullet holes in the helicopter carrying the Colombian president and other top officials. Duque said the plane was attacked in the southern region of Catatumbo on the border with Venezuela in a rare instance of a direct attack on a presidential plane.

Bucaramanga, Colombia – Colombian President Ivan Duque said that a helicopter carrying him and several senior government officials came under fire on Friday in the southern Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, in a rare instance of a direct attack on a presidential plane. Duque, a former rebel leader, said the helicopter he flew was the first attack on a Colombian leader in 20 years. He said he and his crew had been hit by gunfire in the area.

Security personnel received clear instructions and learned of the incident, the presidential office added. Earlier this month, a car bomb detonated at a base of the 30th Army Brigade in Cucuta, wounding Colombian troops and a U.S. military adviser. Friday’s attack occurred as the helicopter was flying with Colombian President Ivan Duque and others in Colombia’s Catatumbo region near the town of Cucuta, the capital of Colombia’s Norte Santander province, he said.

The security forces of Cucuta were on high alert after 36 military personnel and civilians were injured on June 14 by a car bomb attack on a military base. Colombian authorities said they suspected dissidents of the now-deceased Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or the National Liberation Army rebels. Cucuta’s security forces have been on high alert since a car bomb attack on the military base on June 15 killed five people and wounded 36.

Colombian authorities have not yet said whether the shots were fired from the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela or the Venezuelan side. Colombia has accused Venezuela of harboring Colombian rebels on its territory. The helicopter in which Colombian President Duque was traveling after being hit by a projectile in Cucuta, Colombia, on June 25, 2021.

Duque condemned the incident and said he was not afraid of violence or acts of terrorism. The helicopter attack came as the president faced several analysts called the most difficult moment of his presidency. In a recent poll by Datexco, Duque’s approval rating stood at 16 percent, the lowest since he took office in 2018. Families worldwide were caught between dwindling hope and a growing fear on Saturday, two days after the dramatic collapse of a 12-story condominium in Miami. At least four people died, and more than 150 were missing as rescuers continued digging through the rubble of the building. The building had an international mix of foreign retirees, South American immigrants, and Orthodox Jews, many of whom were eager to have their loved ones in the United States. By agreeing to collect data on this AMP site, you agree that AMP will display personalized advertising relevant to you when you are in the UK.