Colombian troop surge seeks to stem drug-linked Venezuelan border violence
NORTE DE SANTANDER, Colombia, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Camouflaged Colombian troops with guns and anti-COVID masks creep through dense vegetation in suffocating heat, ready for their many enemies crisscrossing the Venezuelan border.
The soldiers are part of a 14,000-strong military unit created last month to stem rising bloodshed in the northeastern province of Norte de Santander: Colombia's new epicenter of conflict, fueled by rising cocaine production.