Rights groups warn that armed groups are increasingly recruiting children to their ranks through social media.
Three minors were among those killed in a Colombian military air strike on cocaine-trafficking rebels last week, authorities said, as President Abelardo de la Espriella intensifies operations against armed groups.
The August 27 bombing in the southern Guaviare department was the deadliest military operation since de la Espriella took office earlier this month. The National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences said that 10 people in total were killed in the operation. The Ministry of National Defence reported that two of the victims were 15 and another was 16.
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The victims allegedly belonged to a dissident faction of the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that rejected a 2016 peace agreement with the government.
De la Espriella, a right-wing leader and ally of United States President Donald Trump, said on Monday that another bombing in the same area killed eight members of a FARC dissident group led by commander Ivan Mordisco. It is not known whether any minors were among the dead.
“The bandits, who for decades have recruited minors to turn them into combatants or human shields, must pay for these crimes that violate International Humanitarian Law,” he wrote on X.
The Defence Ministry said on Monday that 24 suspected rebels have been killed in military operations since de la Espriella took office.
The strikes come as child recruitment by armed groups is again rising in Colombia, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published last week.
At least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, with 625 cases reported in 2024, according to the report.
The watchdog said that criminal and rebel groups are using social media to recruit children, including to carry out increasingly dangerous tasks, such as operating drones loaded with explosives. They also reported that algorithms on platforms including Meta and TikTok “appear to have actively promoted” content encouraging children to join rebel groups.
“Armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity,” said Juanita Goebertus, HRW’s Americas director. “Protection systems are failing, and social media platforms have become a more effective recruiting ground.”
Meta and TikTok told HRW that they prohibit content promoting violence and had removed accounts flagged by the organisation.
