Ecuadorian Defense Vice Minister Miguel Carvajal said on Thursday that his country will have "zero tolerance" for incursions by the Colombian military or other armed groups into Ecuadorian territories.
Carvajal said that since early November, Ecuador has had security problems at its northern border with Colombia.
Carvajal cited a recent incursion by Colombian paramilitaries, a guerilla attack and the violation of Ecuadorian air space by a Colombian military helicopter.
Carvajal questioned how the Colombian military intelligence could fail to find leaders of irregular groups when even journalists have interviewed them.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on the same day authorized Ecuadorian soldiers to repel any attack from Colombian armed groups.
Ecuador broke diplomatic ties with Colombia on March 3, 2008, two days after Colombian army raided a Colombian rebel camp in Ecuador without notifying Ecuador.
During that raid, the Colombian military killed 25 people in the zone of Angostura in Sucumbios province near the borders between the two countries.
Source:Xinhua
|