Colombian troop surge seeks to stem drug-linked Venezuelan border violence

Members of the Colombian military patrol between Colombia and Venezuela by an unofficial crossing, as Venezuela reopens its borders with Colombia after a nearly three-year closure due to political tensions, in Cucuta, Colombia October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita

NORTE DE SANTANDER, Colombia (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.