The operation took place in the town of Mapiripan in southeastern Meta department, a gateway to the Amazon region, Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X.

It targeted members of the breakaway FARC faction, Estado Mayor Central (Central General Staff), known as EMC.

Sanchez, a retired general, is Colombia's first defense minister in three decades to have a military background.

President Gustavo Petro named him to the post in March seeking to gain the upper hand against various rebel groups still at war with the state nearly a decade after FARC, once the biggest guerrilla army in the Americas, agreed to lay down arms.

Colombian forces are currently fighting EMC members as well as the Gulf Clan, the country's biggest drug cartel.

On his election in 2022, Petro, Colombia's first-left wing president, vowed to pursue "total peace" nationwide by launching talks with the various armed factions still active.

But in several cases, the talks broke down amid allegations that the groups were using the lull to rearm, gain more territory and expand their cocaine production and trafficking rackets.

Over the past year, the military has carried out air strikes on some rebel bases.

Analysts saw Petro, who has crossed horns with President Donald Trump on migrant deportations, is nonetheless anxious to keep the United States on his side in the fight against drug trafficking.

In September, Trump will decide whether or not to decertify Colombia as a partner in the battle against drugs, a move that could restrict millions of dollars in US military aid and deal a blow to Colombia's reputation.

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