People stand near vehicles destroyed in a deadly bomb attack on a highway in Cauca department in southwestern Colombia – Copyright AFP Francisco Calderon, Francisco Calderon
Alba SANTANA
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia killed 10 people and wounded at least a dozen on Saturday, the latest wave of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election.
Authorities blamed the attack in Cauca department – a conflict-ridden and war-torn region – on dissidents from the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, which has sown violence across the country.
“Those who carried out this attack … are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” President Gustavo Petro said in X.
“I want our best soldiers to face them,” he added.
The leftist leader blamed the blast on Ivan Mordisco, the South American country’s most wanted criminal, whom he has compared to late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Saturday’s blast left “10 dead and 12 seriously injured. However, the number is expected to rise significantly,” a local fire official told AFP.
A police source said rescue teams were searching for several missing people.
The governor of Cauca, Octavio Guzman, shared a video on social media showing the victims on the ground and destroyed vehicles as a result of the bombing.
Other social media posts detailed extensive damage and craters in the road, with witnesses claiming the blast was so powerful they were knocked back several metres.
– Political violence –
The violence followed a bomb attack on Friday at a military base in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, which wounded two people and sparked a string of attacks in Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments.
According to military chief Hugo Lopez, 26 attacks have been recorded in two departments over the past two days.
Authorities have increased military and police presence in the areas, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday.
Colombia has a history of armed groups – which finance their operations through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion – trying to influence elections through violence.
Remnants of the FARC that rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government have actively sought to disrupt stalled peace talks with Petro.
Security is one of the central issues of the May 31 presidential election. Political violence was thrust into the spotlight last June, when young conservative presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the capital Bogota.
Left-wing senator Ivan Cepeda, an architect of Petro’s controversial policy of negotiating with armed groups, is ahead in the polls, followed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia.
All three have reported receiving death threats and are campaigning under tight security.
