The troops of the Vulcano Task Force (FTV), of the state Army, artificially maintain the name of ‘ex-FARC gang 33’, feeding it with mercenaries, scoundrels and hired sicarios, whom they use as ‘cannon fodder’ in the confrontation with the ELN forces in El Catatumbo.
In the combats, the ELN guerrillas face mercenaries and bandits who are not native to the territory and receive pay. A former soldier of the state Army was captured, who had just returned from Ukraine where he acted as a mercenary. Another captured on the 24th, who was wounded in the right leg, had been in the gang for three months and received a monthly salary of 2 million pesos.
Colombia is aware of the investigations of the Attorney General’s Office, which demonstrate how they hire sicarios to persecute and eliminate the social leadership, who they accuse of collaborating with the Northeastern War Front (FGNO) of the ELN, based in this area of the national territory.
The FGNO guerrilla units fight the state Army troops assigned to the FTV and its narco-paramilitary arm Exfarc band 33, as shown in this War Report for the month of April 2026.
– 11, at 11:30 AM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, at kilometer 17, Municipality of Tibú, Norte de Santander, there were several casualties between dead and wounded, who were evacuated through kilometer 14.
– 13, at 11:00 AM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, at kilometer 16 of Tibú, 2 were injured and one dead.
– 13, at 11:30 AM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, in the Caño Raya village of Tibú, 3 people died and 5 were injured.
– 15, at 1:30 PM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, in the upper part of the Caño Raya village, in Tibú, 4 were injured and one dead.
– 16, at 10:30 PM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, in the 29 de Mayo village of Tibú, there were unquantified casualties.
– 17, at 11:30 AM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, in the Caño Raya village of Tibú, there were unquantified casualties.
– 17, at 10:36 pm, state military aviation bombs the villages of La Esperanza, El Diviso and Puerto Catatumbo in the municipality of El Tarra, where two ELN guerrillas die. These same sites were bombed again on the 18th at 12 midnight.
-18, after the bombings, troops from the Vulcano Task Force disembarked in helicopters. The patrols disembarked in the San Martín de Filo Gringo village were attacked at 3 PM by ELN units, using snipers and bombing with drones, which caused numerous casualties and forced them to flee in disarray, leaving behind a large amount of military, radio communications and quartermaster material.
– 20, at 5 AM, we bombed the State Army Military Base, located in El Alto, in the municipality of San Calixto, with 140 and 180 mm artillery, resulting in unquantified casualties.
– 23, at 6:00 AM, in half an hour of combat against the paramilitary narco gang of 33, in the Vereda Retiro Alto de Tibú, comrade Hormiga fell dead. Unquantified casualties occurred to the gang.
– 23, the 33 paramilitary narco gang attacks several of our positions with drones in the Vereda El Retiro de Tibú, where comrade Franco dies.
– 24, in 5 hours of combat against the narco-paramilitary gang of 33 at kilometer 19 of Tibú, in which we combined unmanned ships, artillery and infantry, 9 were killed and 11 wounded, among the casualties fell alias Mateo, a commander of the gang.
– 24, in Bocas de Orú in the El Tarra municipality, our exploration units found a member of the gang, wounded with a shot in one of his legs, who had been injured in the fighting on April 18 in the 20 de Julio village of Tibú, to whom we immediately provided medical assistance.
– 24, at 8:00 PM, in combat against the 33 paramilitary narco gang, at the La Pollera farm, located in the Caño Raya village of Tibú, a commander of the gang and two civilians who accompanied him were injured.
– 24, at 8:00 PM, we bombed the shelters of the drone pilots of the 33 paramilitary narco gang, causing unquantified casualties.
Directorate of the FGNO Commander in Chief Manuel Pérez Martínez of the ELN
Source: https://eln-voces.net/2026/05/04/combates-en-el-catatumbo-contra-sicarios-contratados/