‘I always hear them before I see them’: Drones strike fear in Colombia

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Published 5/22/2026, 6:49:40 PM · Updated 5/22/2026, 11:26:12 PMBy TheBriefWire Editorial Team

‘I always hear them before I see them’: Drones strike fear in Colombia

Key points

  • Whenever a low, bumblebee-like thrum cuts through the quiet of Sandra Montoya’s home near Tibu in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, the sound stiffens her body.
  • She instinctively reaches for her young son.
  • The noise always emerges from a small mountain behind her home, part of a tree-quilted landscape stitched with winding rivers along Colombia’s border with Venezuela.
  • "I always hear them before I see them, if I see them at all," she says.
  • "Usually, black dots appear in the distance, sometimes coming towards us." Drones — some laden with explosives — regularly trace across the skies above Catatumbo, a region long marked by clashes between rival armed groups and the state.

Published May 22, 2026.

Quick Summary

Whenever a low, bumblebee-like thrum cuts through the quiet of Sandra Montoya’s home near Tibu in Colombia’s Catatumbo region, the sound stiffens her body. She


📌 Source: Al Jazeera

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