Eight people were killed in an air strike by Colombia’s armed forces targeting the Gulf Clan in Antioquia province, in the country’s north west, among them Haminton Mosquera, a senior member of the gang and one of 10 priority targets for the security forces, President Abelardo de la Espriella said. De la Espriella, who was elected in June after campaigning on air strikes against criminal gangs and said he personally authorised this bombing, said Mosquera was suspected of ordering attacks on the security forces, including the murder of a police officer in Taraza last year, and vowed that the offensive will not stop. The Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest criminal gang, traffics cocaine to the United States and Europe and was added by the United States to its list of foreign terrorist organisations last year.
Colombian air strike kills eight, including Gulf Clan leader
Eight people, among them senior Gulf Clan member Haminton Mosquera, were killed in a Colombian armed forces air strike in Antioquia province that President Abelardo de la Espriella said he personally authorised.
Why it matters: The strike is the latest test of de la Espriella's campaign promise to use air power against Colombia's criminal gangs, and of whether that offensive can retake territory the Gulf Clan, the country's largest gang, controls.
Data as of BBC News report of November 12, 2026, read in full via the estate browser route, reporting President Abelardo de la Espriella's own announcement on X. Single-sourced to the BBC's reporting of the president's statement; no independent confirmation of the death toll or of Mosquera's death was read in this run. Developing item.
Sources
- Eight killed in Colombian air strike targeting Gulf Clan gang - BBC News - 2026-11-12