Dark episode in Colombia

One of the darkest episodes in Colombia's recent history is that of false positives, the euphemism for civilians killed by the Army who were disguised and presented as combat casualties during the armed conflict.

In a country where at least 6,402 victims of this terrible practice were registered, according to data from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, the operations of the Armed Forces must be free of any doubt.

The Government of Iván Duque therefore has the duty to clarify what happened two weeks ago in Putumayo, in a military operation that the president described as a "success" before public opinion.

The president maintained that the Armed Forces had killed 11 dissidents from the FARC guerrillas and had captured another four.

Investigations by the media, including EL PAÍS, and civil organizations have shown the cracks in that version.

The objective of the operation was to capture a dissident leader, a result that was not achieved.

The attack was launched during the celebration of a popular festival, in which it was known that there would be civilians.

Even so, multiple shots were fired.

The soldiers arrived dressed in black and identified themselves as members of the guerrilla, according to witnesses, and held dozens of people for hours.

Photographs to which this newspaper has had access show the manipulation of corpses.

There was also no capture, as the president announced and the Prosecutor's Office has denied.

Not even that point has been recognized by the Government.

Two weeks have passed and Duque and the Army remain faithful to their version of a successful operation, despite multiple evidence to the contrary.

The Minister of Defense will have to respond to Congress to give explanations.

It is not the first time that controversy has loomed over a military operation by this Executive, which ends his mandate in August.

One of Duque's defense ministers resigned precisely because it was concealed that eight minors had died during a military action.

Among those who died in the operation in Putumayo, as far as is known, are a pregnant woman, a minor under 16 years of age and an indigenous governor.

“It is not the first operation in which pregnant women and minor combatants are killed,” the head of the Army, General Eduardo Zapateiro, said on Monday.

The Government has an obligation to investigate what happened and tell the truth.

Only in this way will it contribute to underpin the peace that was signed in 2016 between the State and the FARC to leave behind half a century of war.