Growing Use Of Deadly Drones By Colombian Militants Terrifies Residents

Through a monitor, 2 men watch a explosive tumble done nan aerial toward a building astatine nan separator of town. “Look astatine really they run,” 1 of nan men says.

The drone’s camera follows a group of group beneath arsenic they sprint down nan roadworthy earlier nan mortar explodes.

These scenes of destruction, carried retired and filmed by drones, person defined nan warfare successful Ukraine. But this drone is thousands of miles distant successful Colombia, nan latest mutation successful nan country’s deadly, long-standing conflict betwixt nan nationalist authorities and militant groups.

It’s besides an illustration of nan increasing usage of drone warfare successful Latin America and different parts of nan globe.

Seventeen videos posted connected societal media and verified by NBC News show that these groups, nan National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissidents from nan Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), are utilizing drones for surveillance, intimidation and bombing campaigns — targeting rival groups, soldiers, constabulary and civilians crossed nan country, injuring and sidesplitting dozens successful nan past year.

Militants person focused their assaults connected areas wherever they already person greater control: successful Catatumbo, a region of dense jungle bordering Venezuela, and Cauca, connected Colombia’s westbound coast, notorious for its smuggling routes successful nan Pacific Ocean.

It was successful Cauca past twelvemonth successful nan municipality of El Plateado that a 10-year-old boy was killed by a grenade dropped from a drone onto a section during a shot game. The boy, identified arsenic “Dylan” by Brig. Gen. Federico Mejía, commandant of nan equipped forces successful Cauca, was nan first decease from a drone onslaught successful nan country. Twelve others were injured successful nan explosion.

The complaint of strikes has quickly accelerated since. “Every time they effort and attack,” Mejía said.

In 2024, nan Colombian Defense Ministry recorded 119 drone-related attacks. In 2025, attacks person doubled, pinch 180 incidents documented arsenic of August.

The sound of fear

The drones — cheap, easy to run and wide disposable online — are altered to transportation explosives filled pinch nails, pieces of chainsaws and metallic bolts, Mejía said. Used for surveillance and strikes, they tin alert much than 1,000 feet above, making them virtually imperceptible to group connected nan ground.

“The quality receptor can’t perceive it,” said Secretary Luis Fernando Niño Lopez, precocious commissioner for bid successful Norte de Santander, a region that encompasses Catatumbo. Drones, he said, person allowed militant groups to spell beyond accepted battlefields and scope civilians.

“Before, nan warfare was assemblage to body,” Niño Lopez said. “However, this changed to individual attacks, looking from location to location and utilizing drones.”

In different instances, surveillance and intimidation spell manus successful hand. “The connection is ‘zumbido’ (‘buzz’),” said Juanita Goebertus, head of nan Americas Division astatine Human Rights Watch. In interviews nan statement conducted pinch Indigenous communities successful Catatumbo, residents described nan “humming sound” from drones monitoring nan population.

“There’s immense fearfulness created now successful Catatumbo whenever there’s nan sound of a drone going around,” she said.

‘We tin do that’

The take of drones marks nan latest improvement successful a conflict that has raged for complete half a period successful Colombia, experts said. In 2016, the authorities reached a bid statement with nan country’s largest rebel group, FARC. The statement was criticized from galore sides, including immoderate FARC militants who refused to disarm and continued operating successful smaller numbers.

With nan simplification successful their ranks, militant groups — nary strangers to asymmetrical warfare — changed tactics. “It’s a awesome illustration of a benignant of criminal learning,” Elizabeth Dickinson, a elder expert astatine nan International Crisis Group, said. “They spot what’s happening successful Ukraine, nan highly wide usage of drones. They think, ‘Hey, we tin do that.’ Then 1 group starts successful Colombia, and it spreads for illustration wildfire.”

Over nan past fewer years, videos emerged connected societal media of militants experimenting pinch store-bought drones. A video from 2023 shows fighters from a FARC dissident group testing nan weight of a grenade tied to nan assemblage of a drone pinch a portion of string.

“Often, these munitions are very rudimentary,” Dickinson said. “The mostly of attacks person been aimed astatine constabulary aliases subject targets aliases rival equipped groups, but often they are exploding, obviously, successful areas that impact civilians, because they are, by definition, an indiscriminate weapon.”

‘Drone comes, drone goes’

Civilians, particularly children, successful Cauca and Catatumbo person ended up connected some ends of drone attacks. Last August, authorities arrested a 16-year-old who they said had operated a drone that dropped a explosive connected a constabulary building.

“You spot a batch of nan guys who put together these drones, who tally them being 16, 17, 18 years old,” Dickinson said. Child recruitment successful Colombia has soared successful nan past respective years, she said, expanding complete 1,000% betwixt 2021 and 2024.

Commercial drones are comparatively elemental to operate, and children, already predisposed to mastering caller technology, are perfect targets for recruitment. “My boy is 13 and manages a drone perfectly,” Mejía said.

Children successful Colombia are progressively susceptible to nan lures of militant groups, who person utilized societal media apps for illustration TikTok and WhatsApp to beforehand a glamorized type of nan guerrilla lifestyle, according to experts, who besides constituent to nan absence of schoolteachers, galore of whom person fled nan unit successful nan region, arsenic a contributing factor.

A rhythm of attacks, forced recruitment and instability has brought astir Colombia’s largest displacement from 1 region successful astatine slightest 28 years. More than 73,000 group person fled Norte de Santander, according to nan Ombudsman’s Office of Colombia.

José del Carmen Abril looks astatine coca crops successful Catatumbo, Colombia, successful 2022. Raul Arboleda / AFP via Getty Images

For half a year, José del Carmen Abril, 55, known to his friends and family arsenic Carmito, has been moving for his life. The husbandman and societal leader from Catatumbo told NBC News he’s a target of nan ELN. In January, he was rescued by subject constabulary on pinch 19 different farmers aft nan rebel group launched respective attacks against rival FARC dissidents. Speaking to Colombian media weeks aft he was rescued, he said he was targeted owed to his past successful farmworker struggles and his erstwhile support for the Unión Patriótica, a statement linked pinch FARC.

Now successful hiding, Abril hears updates from his siblings and nephews who stay successful Catatumbo.

Drones, which astatine 1 clip promised to beryllium a technological advancement for farmers successful Colombia, person go a awesome of terror.

“Catatumbo is becoming drone comes, drone goes,” Abril said. “There is simply a fearfulness of drones since farmers are subject targets for nan ELN.”

Amid nan speech of attacks from nan ELN and FARC dissidents successful nan region, drones person dropped explosives connected nan homes of group successful nan countryside. In May, a 12-year-old and his mother were killed successful Tibú erstwhile a drone dropped a grenade connected their house, Abril said.

‘A awesome consequence for nan future’

The subject and authorities of Colombia person precocious taken measures to stem nan surge of drone attacks. The Defense Ministry has projected a bid of bills that would create a nationalist registry for drones and categorize strikes connected civilians arsenic terrorism.

Soldiers person besides started utilizing anti-drone technology, devices that tin find unmanned craft and jam their signals. Since implementing these defenses, Mejía said, his forces person reduced nan number of these attacks by 80% successful Cauca.

Devices for countering drones are by nary intends ubiquitous. Soldiers and constabulary often effort to sprout drones retired of nan sky, a comparatively ineffective measurement that creates its ain nationalist information risks erstwhile they are changeable down supra crowded areas.

“They’re very difficult to sprout down,” said Henry Ziemer, an subordinate chap astatine nan Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If you’re a civilian surviving successful agrarian Colombia, and location is simply a drone that tin driblet bombs from hundreds of feet supra you aliases tin alert successful and detonate nan explosive, you really person virtually nary recourse.”

The state is facing different situation to its expertise to conflict nan quickly evolving strategies and instrumentality of militant forces. At consequence are hundreds of millions of dollars successful U.S. subject assistance tied up successful a certification process of nan country’s committedness to nan warfare connected drugs.

Colombia has narrowly avoided decertification successful past years, but it has grounded to trim nan forbidden maturation of coca crops, which has risen each twelvemonth successful nan past decade, according to information from nan United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime.

By Sept. 15, President Donald Trump will determine whether to trim disconnected assistance to Colombia. Cutting disconnected nan proviso of resources and technologies to nan state could cripple its efforts to conflict militants successful nan future, said Alberto José Mejía Ferrero, a erstwhile wide for Colombia’s equipped forces. He added that it would beryllium “very bad for our strategy, for approach, and particularly for nan very, very beardown narration that nan subject forces of Colombia and our nationalist constabulary had pinch nan U.S. for decades.”

The take of drone warfare by militant groups successful Latin America is not unsocial to Colombia. Already, Mexican cartels person utilized drones to onslaught constabulary and 1 another. In Ecuador, a drone targeted nan roof of a high-security situation to unit a jailbreak.

“I deliberation that’s a awesome consequence for nan future,” Ziemer said. “I deliberation nan region arsenic a full has yet to travel to position pinch nan standard and imaginable standard of nan threat we’re seeing.”