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Militant attack against Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline recorded in Boyacá, Colombia on October 24

Updated: Nov 10, 2018

Reports indicate that on October 24 a section of the Caño-Limón-Coveñas was attacked in Cubara, Boyacá. The attack reportedly resulted in an oil spill that spread to a nearby stream, prompting authorities from the state-owned Ecopetrol to dispatch teams to assess and mitigate the environmental damage caused by the attack. According to Ecopetrol, the Caño-Limón-Coveñas pipeline has been attacked 76 times throughout 2018. It represents one of the largest oil infrastructures in the country, running from the Arauca Department on the border of Venezuela to Coveñas on Colombia's Caribbean coastline.


Ample precedent suggests the National Liberation Army (ELN) was responsible for the attack. The militant group has been targeting said infrastructure since its inauguration in 1986, costing Ecopetrol a decade worth of crude production, and millions in environmental damages. Considering that the pipeline has an extension of 780 kilometers and falls within ELN territory, security services are unlikely to deter or prevent further attacks, which can be carried out without much preparation and without sophisticated explosives.




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