FARC rebels arrange oil spill in Colombia amid progress in peace talks
Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have forced drivers to empty oil they were transporting in a forest area in the southwestern Putumayo Department, with the environmental sabotage being staged amid moderate progress in the rebels’ peace talks with the government, Sputnik reports.
According to local reports, about 200,000 gallons of oil were emptied in the Putumayo forest area from 19 tanks on Tuesday.
The incident comes amid last week’s progress in peace talks between FARC and Colombia’s government that reached an agreement on the creation of a joint Truth Commission on June 4.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos wrote on his Twitter page on Tuesday that he instructed the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia to deploy the necessary devices to mitigate environmental damage by the oil spill in Putumayo.
In a separate post, the president wrote that he had asked the military forces to strengthen security measures to prevent such "terrorist acts" in the future.