Colombia kills top ELN guerrilla commander in military operation

 Colombian security forces have killed a top National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel commander known best by his nom de guerre Uriel, during an operation in the coastal Pacific province of Choco, President Ivan Duque said on Sunday.
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Uriel, known for his media appearances, online videos and one-time Twitter account, was responsible for kidnappings, the murders of human rights activists and members of the security forces and forced recruitment of minors, Duque said in a broadcast with police and military leaders on Sunday evening.

"The terrorist Andres Felipe Vanegas Londono, who used the alias Uriel, has been downed," Duque said. "This criminal was killed in a meticulous operation of shared intelligence by the national army of Colombia and the national police."

Uriel used his social media to "defend crime," Duque said, as he called for other ELN members to demobilise.

The ELN, founded in 1964 by radical priests, are considered more radical and less centrally controlled than the FARC rebels, who signed a peace deal in 2016 and are now a legal political party.