Colombia President Iván Duque escaped unhurt when his helicopter was shot at late Friday afternoon, in an attack that left bullet holes in the aircraft.
None of the passengers, including several top ministers, were killed, Duque said in a video address just after the attack.
He, however, did say not whether anyone had been injured in the attack which took place near the border with Venezuela.
Duque called the shooting “cowardly” and vowed to continue “the fight against narcotrafficking, against terrorism and against the organized crime groups that operate in the country.”
The attack Friday took place as Duque was flying to the border city of Cúcuta from the town of Sardinata in the troubled region of Catatumbo, where the coca crops that are used to make cocaine flourish, as do the armed groups that control the drug trade, New York Times reported.
These groups include members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, as well as the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN.
In 2016, Duque’s predecessor, Juan Manuel Santos, signed a peace deal with FARC but some of the group’s members did not sign the peace deal and violence has continued.
The Colombian government has fought left-wing guerrillas, drug cartels, paramilitary operations and other criminal elements for generations.
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