Colombia's lesser known rebel group still delivers violence and wreaks havoc

BOGOTA, Colombia - The Colombian rebel group known as the National Liberation Army delivered an unwelcome new year message, exploding two bombs on the Cano Limon-to-Covenas oil pipeline in the eastern province of Arauca.

The Jan. 9 attacks disrupted delivery of crude to the Andean country's major export harbor and caused nasty spills. Though no deaths were reported, the bombings illustrated how the nation remains plagued by insurgent violence that stunts economic development and wreaks havoc in rural areas despite the government's peace agreement in late 2016 with the 14,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The National Liberation Army, better known as ELN, the initials for its name in Spanish, Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, has grown in strength since the FARC demobilized, adding about