BOGOTA (Reuters) - A bomb attack caused crude oil from Colombia’s Cano Limon pipeline to leak onto the ground and into a nearby ravine in rural Arauca province, state-run oil company Ecopetrol said on Tuesday.
The company said the pipeline was not functioning when the attack took place.
Army personnel will ensure a clean-up crew can access the spill, Ecopetrol said in a statement.
It was the 19th attack so far this year on the 485-mile (780-km) Cano Limon, which was offline for most of 2018 because of more than 80 bombings.
There have been more than two dozen attacks on Colombian pipelines in 2019.
Ecopetrol did not name the group responsible for the bombing, but a military source attributed it to the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. The group regularly attacks oil infrastructure.
Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
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