A drone attack on a military base in northern Colombia has killed three soldiers and wounded at least 16 others, the country's armed forces said on Saturday.

The Colombian military said the strike hit a base in Santa Rosa del Sur, a small town in the foothills of the San Lucas mountain range. Authorities have not identified who carried out the attack.

Footage shared on social media showed clouds of smoke rising from the base after three explosions, with soldiers taking cover in shelters made of sandbags.

"Those who were behind this attack... will have nowhere to hide," President Abelardo de la Espriella wrote on X. "Every attack against our soldiers strengthens our resolve to defend Colombia."

The area is rich in gold mines and has long been contested by rebel armed groups, including the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and smaller factions led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The attack is the latest in a series of strikes on security forces as violence rises across rural parts of the country.

Violence has intensified in several rural areas since de la Espriella, a conservative, took office in August. The president cancelled peace talks with rebel groups and has adopted a confrontational approach, including increased air strikes, the deployment of additional troops in some cities, and the creation of joint task forces to defend strategic assets such as a pipeline running from the Caribbean coast to central Colombia.

De la Espriella's government argues that armed groups used ceasefires granted by the previous administration to consolidate their grip on rural areas, where they tax local businesses and profit from the drug trade. Some groups have responded by stepping up attacks on the country's armed forces.

Last week, a military base in Tolima province was targeted with missiles made from gas canisters. That attack killed four civilians, including a two-month-old baby.

Police in the border city of Cucuta have also been attacked several times with remotely activated bombs.

According to ACLED, a group that monitors armed conflicts, state forces and illegal armed groups carried out 34 attacks with bombs or explosives in Colombia in the four weeks to October 16 -- a nine percent increase on the previous year's four-week average.

A 2016 peace deal with FARC led to the demobilisation of more than 14,000 fighters, but smaller groups have since fought over the rebels' former territory.