One Marine Dead, Four Wounded as FARC Dissidents Deploy Grenade-Dropping Drones Against the Colombian Navy

Colombian Navy gunboats participate in a riverine combat exercise on the Guapi River in Cauca, supporting security and surveillance operations in an area affected by illegal armed groups and drug trafficking organizations. (Credit: Photo credit should read LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images)

The Briefing:

• A drone carrying a grenade struck Navy patrol vessel ARC 1200 on the Guapi River in Cauca on Friday morning, killing marine professional Edwin Andrés Vargas Londoño, 23, with one year of service — four fellow crew members were wounded and airlifted to Cali for emergency care.
• Colombia's Navy formally attributed the strike to Estructura 30 Jhonier Toro Arenas, a FARC dissident cell within the Bloque Occidental Jacobo Arenas, condemning it as a terrorist act that violates international humanitarian law.
• The same day, soldier Brajhan Daniel Ropero Lozano was killed in a separate small-arms ambush in Guachaca, near Santa Marta, underlining the nationwide scope of Colombia's relentless security crisis.