In brief
President Abelardo de la Espriella said the Colombian military carried out the ‘Noah’ airstrike in the Catatumbo region, killing four and arresting six FARC dissident fighters. The operation targeted the Structure 33 faction and seized weapons, with the president pledging a continued campaign against criminal influence along the Venezuelan border. No independent verification or assessment of the broader impact accompanies the announcement.
President Abelardo de la Espriella announced on November 10 that a Colombian airstrike in the eastern Catatumbo region killed four members of a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and arrested six others, including a leader known as Barba Chivo.
In a statement posted to the social‑media platform X, the president said the operation, code‑named Noah, took place in a rural area of Tibu, in the department of Norte de Santander, near the Venezuelan border. He described the mission as “a decisive military operation that I authorized in a rural area of Tibu, Norte de Santander (department), our National Army and Colombian Air Force struck this criminal organization, which seeks to sow terror and exert control over Catatumbo through fire and bloodshed.”
"In a decisive military operation that I authorized in a rural area of Tibu, Norte de Santander (department), our National Army and Colombian Air Force struck this criminal organization, which seeks to sow terror and exert control over Catatumbo through fire and bloodshed," President De la Espriella said.
The leader who was seized, Barba Chivo, is reported to be a close associate of Andrey Avendano, the top commander of Structure 33, one of the FARC dissident groups operating in Tibu. The president added that the operation also secured seven rifles and 15 drone‑dropped grenades and that it “neutralized three encampments capable of accommodating approximately 35 members of this criminal organization.”
President De la Espriella said the attack was part of a broader campaign to eliminate FARC’s criminal influence along the northern border and pledged that the military offensive would continue until the group’s top leaders were captured and brought to justice for attacks carried out by the organization. Since taking office on August 7, De la Espriella has ordered seven bombing raids against various armed criminal and rebel groups in Catatumbo and other regions, including Guaviare and Choco, targeting the two main FARC dissident factions, the National Liberation Army and the Clan del Golfo criminal group.
The announcement does not include any independent verification of the casualty figures or the status of the captured fighters beyond the president’s account. It also does not provide the official classification of the operation's classification apart from the announcement of the capture of a descendant in the organisation. No additional information on the broader effect of the airstrike is given, and the president’s statement lacks detail about subsequent operations or potential civilian impact in the area.
While the announcement highlights a tangible tactical victory, the broader strategic outcome—whether the campaign will fully eliminate FARC’s criminal influence in the Catatumbo region or how the captured fighters will be processed—is not analyzed in the report. The lack of independent assessment or extended commentary leaves those aspects of the operation unconfirmed, and no further data on the ongoing campaign’s scope or success has been provided by the source at this time.
