Bucaramanga (Colombia), Jan 3 (AP) One soldier was killed and 12 were injured on Wednesday in an attack with explosives on a military unit in western Colombia that the army blamed on the notorious Gulf Clan drug cartel.

The attack occurred early Wednesday in a military facility in the municipality of Turbo, about 480 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Bogota, Colombia's capital, the Defence Ministry said in a news release.

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The ministry attributed the attack to a faction of the Gulf Clan, considered by authorities to be the country's largest active drug cartel. The army has been carrying out operations against the group.

The governor of Antioquia, where Turbo is located, offered a reward of almost USD 12,800 for information leading to the capture the leader of the faction, identified by authorities as Wilder de Jesus Alcaraz, alias “El Indio”.

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Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has been looking to cement a “total peace” plan in the South American country by negotiating peace agreements with all of its armed groups, including leftists guerrillas and trafficking organizations.

The government has ongoing peace negotiations with several different organisations, but has had difficulty holding talks with the Gulf Clan. Last year, the government and the group agreed to a cease-fire, but the authorities halted conversations after accusing the drug cartel of being behind attacks during a mining protest, and the army restarted military operations against it.

In December, six soldiers died and six others were injured in an attack that the government attributed to dissidents from Colombia's once largest rebel movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)