A shooting attack on Thursday against a convoy of vehicles belonging to Senator Jairo Castellanos — in which the senator himself was not travelling — left two of his bodyguards dead, authorities reported.

Castellanos’ team was travelling through the Arauca region, an area with a strong presence of the National Liberation Army (ELN), when gunmen attacked one of the vehicles in the convoy and stole another. Three members of the team were also kidnapped and later released.

The senator, who is a candidate for re-election, was not in the convoy and was unharmed. In a video shared with the media, he said, “They massacred my men,” describing the incident as a cowardly act. He added that they were trying to defend democracy in the region.

The Minister of Defence, Pedro Sánchez, stated that the attack was possibly carried out by the ELN cartel.

Images circulating on social media show a vehicle with its windows blown out and riddled with bullet holes, despite being armoured. A source from the National Protection Unit, responsible for the security of electoral candidates, said authorities have been unable to access the attack site due to ongoing fighting between the guerrilla group and the Colombian Army.