An official communiqué issued on Thursday states that ‘we will continue to employ all our combative capabilities as much as needed to neutralize these criminals, wherever they are, as we will not yield even a millimeter of the sacred territory of the Homeland to their bastard interests.’

The text reports nine Colombian irregular deaths and the detention of 32 others as a result of the operations of the Bolivarian Shield 2021 in that region bordering Colombia.

It also informs six explosive devices were deactivated and nine camps were destroyed, one of which was used for cocaine processing.

The document expresses condolences to relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms of two Venezuelan officers assassinated on Wednesday during an ambush in Ripial.

‘An incident of such nature corroborates the cowardice, treachery and vileness of those criminal organizations, which acting with the acquiescence of the Colombian government intended to illegally occupy sectors of the Venezuelan geographic space to develop their criminal activities, as we have already pointed out,’ the text refers.

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