Army helicopter falls in Colombia during anti-rebel operation

Colombian army helicopter fell while carrying out an operation against former FARC guerrillas who rejected the Peace Agreement signed in 2016 and picked up arms again.

The Colombian army recovered the bodies of nine of the 11 military personnel who went missing after the fall of a helicopter supporting an operation against former FARC guerrillas who rejected the Peace Agreement and took up arms again.

The Black Hawk-type aircraft, with 17 uniformed men inside, fell ashore in a jungle area in the southeast of the country.

Six soldiers were rescued with injuries but nine had died, a spokesman for the military forces said in a message to the media. Two soldiers were still missing.

Authorities found the helicopter on a stretch of the Inírida river, in the department of Guaviare, where rebels from the former FARC who rejected demobilization are still in arms.

According to the Colombian Army, the helicopter had joined an operation against the rebel group.