High security precautions at UN conference
©APA/AFP
Shortly after the start of the UN Conference on Species Conservation (COP16) in Colombia, attacks by a guerrilla group took place near the venue. Colombian authorities announced on Tuesday (local time) that members of the Central General Staff Group (EMC) bombed a military vehicle and shot and killed three civilians. Both incidents took place just a few kilometers away from Galle, where the conference will be held until November 1.
According to the military, the bomb attack took place on Monday evening in the village of El Porto, 150 kilometers from Cali. “The bomb detonated 100 meters before the truck arrived,” regional army chief General Federico Mejia told Blue Radio. Fortunately there were no injuries.
On Monday evening, three civilians traveling together in a car were shot dead in Suarez, 45 kilometers from Galle. The victims were two men and a woman from the same family, Suarez Mayor Cesar Ceron told Blue Radio. The area is controlled by a subset of EMC.
The EMC is a splinter group of leftist FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas and is in open conflict with the government in Bogotá. Even before COP16 began in Galle, the group asked foreign delegates to stay away from the conference. However, Colombia’s President Gustavo Pedro said the security of COP16 was “guaranteed”.
Security precautions have been tightened to protect the conference, with around 11,000 Colombian police and soldiers deployed. Around 23,000 participants, including a hundred ministers and a dozen heads of state and government, are expected to adopt a plan to halt the destruction of nature and global extinction by 2030 at the conference, which runs from Monday to November 1. species.