FILE - Colombia's President Ivan Duque addresses the nation in a televised speech, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019.
Colombian President Ivan Duque said he will use the full force of the military to bring to justice the drug gang that killed at least six soldiers and wounded eight of them during an ambush, near the country's jungle region.
Authorities said Wednesday's attack on the army unit occurred as soldiers were conducting an offensive against drug trafficking in a rural area known as San Juan de Lozada, Caqueta.
Duque called the fallen soldiers "heroes."
Separately, Duque on Wednesday hailed a new United Nations report that showed a 9 percent decrease in the illegal coca leaf plantations in Colombia in 2019 from the previous year.
Still, Colombia remains the world's largest cocaine producer.