Venezuelan sergeant loses leg to landmine in Zulia

A 32-year-old Venezuelan sergeant, Isaac Rincón, underwent a leg amputation after stepping on an anti-personnel mine in the state of Zulia. The incident occurred on Saturday, October 17, 2026, near Casigua El Cubo in the Jesús María Semprún municipality, close to the Colombian border.

Rincón was part of an eight-soldier commission, led by First Lieutenant Sepúlveda and part of the 13th Motorized Infantry Brigade, tasked with locating and neutralizing a clandestine airstrip used for drug trafficking. The military unit failed to detect that the perimeter in the West Tarra sector had been mined.

The area is reportedly a corridor for irregular armed groups, specifically dissidents of the FARC, who are believed to use the location for transporting narcotics. Following the explosion, Rincón was treated at a local diagnostic center before being transferred to the Military Hospital in Maracaibo for surgery.