On July 26, 2022, at about 8:30 PM, the La Mata Police station, in La Gloria municipality, in Colombia’s César department was attacked. Improvised mortar rounds were fired from improvised launchers arranged in a direct fire formation in a vehicle parked outside the station. Three police officers who were inside the station and two civilians were wounded in the attack. The improvised launchers were installed in the vehicle and corresponding holes were cut for the barrels in the sides of the car, allowing the improvised rounds to exit smoothly.
Another attack employing the exact same TTP was carried out two days later, on July 28, 2022, targeting the Guamalito District Police station, located 26 kilometers away, in El Carmen municipality, in Norte de Santander department, without casualties. In this attack, notably, many of the fired improvised mortar rounds did not explode.
Improvised mortar fire from improvised launchers is a common TTP employed both by the FARC dissidents and the ELN in Colombia, but the transition to a direct fire formation is a tactical change that requires an operational change when positioning the launch vehicle, followed by the near-simultaneous firing of the improvised launchers, compared to positioning the launch vehicle at a distance from the target to fire the improvised mortars in an indirect formation, as evidenced in previous attacks.
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