BOGOTA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- At least six soldiers were killed, five others were injured and one was missing after they were ambushed with explosives in the predawn hours of Wednesday in the northwest Colombian department of Antioquia, Colombia's National Army said.
Colombian President Ivan Duque has condemned the attack against the soldiers, who were patrolling the Nutibara district in the city of Frontino aboard a truck when a bomb was activated on the road, according to the Army's Seventh Division.
"We reject the cowardly terrorist attack with explosives against units of the Fourth Brigade ... in which six soldiers died, five were wounded and one disappeared," Duque said via Twitter.
The attack was likely perpetrated by the Edwin Roman Velasquez arm of the organized crime group known as the Gulf Clan, which has a presence in that area of Antioquia, the commander of the Seventh Division, Gen. Juvenal Diaz, told local media.
Diaz said the attack was believed to have been in retaliation for the military's anti-crime operations against the Gulf Clan, which have weakened the drug trafficking ring.
"Many gang leaders have been affected, many members of the structure and many tons of cocaine hydrochloride have been seized," he added. ■
