Drones Reshape Colombia's War, Causing Rising Casualties

Since 2023, drone attacks by armed groups in Colombia have surged, opening a dangerous new front in the South American country's more than 60-year conflict. Hospitals, schools, police stations, power grids, and homes have all become targets, with hundreds wounded.

In 2024, in southern Cauca, a grenade dropped from a drone killed a 10-year-old boy and wounded 12 others. It was the first recorded case of a fatality from an armed drone in Colombia. Subsequent events include: a drone bombing near a Médecins Sans Frontières field hospital in February 2025; a drone attack that shot down a police helicopter in August 2025; an attack on the Calamar mayor's residence in October 2025; a military base attack in December 2025 killing seven soldiers; a mortar shell from a drone killing a mother and her two sons in Segovia in February 2026; and earlier this month, a drone packed with explosives was found near Bogotá's international airport.

According to the monitoring organization ACLED, only one drone attack was recorded in 2023, but that number soared to 38 in 2024 and to 149 in 2025. Colombia's Defense Ministry reports an even sharper rise, recording 61 attacks in 2024 and 333 in 2025. Most attacks target police, army patrols, and rival armed groups, but the number affecting civilians is also rising rapidly.

Colombia's conflict, involving guerrilla groups, paramilitary forces, drug traffickers, and the government army, has left more than 450,000 dead. The 2016 peace deal quieted fighting, but violence has resurged as armed groups expand their forces and seek to fill power vacuums. They are investing in more sophisticated weapons, including drones.

Former Colombian Vice President Humberto de la Calle warned this is a strategic turning point: "With drones, we are at a point where we must prevent being attacked from the air. This has never happened in Colombia."

Dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) were the first to adopt this technology, followed by rival groups such as the National Liberation Army (ELN). They commonly modify cheap commercial drones from China to carry explosives, with many "kamikaze"-style attacks. By 2025, most major armed groups were using armed drones.

The buzzing sound of drones has become a source of terror in many communities. In Putumayo, indigenous leaders say gunmen use drones to intimidate residents. Analysts link the spread of drone warfare in Colombia to global conflicts, especially Ukraine, where mass drone use has promoted the spread of tactics, technical knowledge, and supply chains.

The drone found near Bogotá's airport was a fiber-optic drone, resistant to signal jamming, a characteristic of Ukraine's drone war. Colombian armed groups also have ties with transnational gangs, facilitating access to equipment and training. There are increasing reports of children being recruited to operate drones, and armed groups are formalizing their own drone units.

Colombia's government has announced a multi-billion dollar anti-drone shield, tightened restrictions on drone imports, and established specialized military units. However, officials acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with a fragmented battlefield. President Gustavo Petro has admitted that "drug traffickers have an advantage in the air."

Experts warn that armed groups are adapting faster than the state. Some reports indicate they already possess anti-drone technology. As drones reshape the conflict from above, the balance is shifting faster than institutions can respond, leaving civilians increasingly exposed in a war where the front lines are no longer fixed on the ground.