Colombia launches bombings in Amalfi and confronts deadly mining protests in Segovia amid Clan del Golfo crackdown

The Colombian armed forces carried out a coordinated air‑ground offensive in the rural area of Amalfi, Antioquia, targeting a sub‑structure of the Clan del Golfo. The operation included a bomb‑run against the group’s Roberto Vargas Gutiérrez faction and aimed to capture the cartel’s top leader known as “Chiquito Malo”. No official casualty figures were released, and the Ministry of Defense said the strike was part of President Gustavo Petro’s broader campaign that has already neutralised thousands of illegal armed group members.

In the neighbouring department of Antioquia, an anti‑illegal‑mining raid in the municipality of Segovia triggered violent unrest. Protesters blocked roads, burned vehicles and clashed with police, leaving at least one person dead and several injured. Governor Andrés Julián Rendón blamed the Clan del Golfo for retaliating against the state’s crackdown on gold‑mining mafias that fund the armed group. The disturbances underline the link between illicit gold extraction and organized‑crime violence in the region.