Horror explosives attack kills 7 and injures 20 on busy Colombia highway

Officials in the Colombian state of Cauca have blamed the incident on dissidents of the disbanded guerrilla group FARC

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An roadside bomb which was detonated alongside a packed Colombia highway has killed seven people, and left 20 injured.

The incident happened on the Pan-American highway in the south west of the country, with images of the devastation left by the assault shared in social media posts. The governor of the state of Cauca, where the incident took place, labelled it “an indiscriminate attack against the civilian population” in a lengthy post on X.

Governor Octavio Guzmán said: “An explosive device was detonated on the Pan-American Highway, in the El Túnel sector of Cajibío, in an indiscriminate attack against the civilian population that, according to preliminary reports, has left 7 civilians dead and more than 17 seriously injured.”

Later official updates put the number of injured people at 20. Guzmán called the deadly attack “a tragedy that tears us apart as a department and deeply saddens our families”.

It’s the latest attack in a spate of violent incidents which officials have blamed on dissidents of the disbanded guerrilla group FARC. FARC combatants rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government but are now reportedly trying to disrupt stalled peace talks with the country’s president Gustavo Petro.

Security is one of the chief talking points in the upcoming May 31 presidential election. A bomb attack on a Cali military base on Friday left two people injured.

In a post Governor Guzmán said: “There are not enough words for the pain we feel today. Cauca cannot continue facing this barbarity alone. We are facing a terrorist escalation that demands immediate responses.”

He asked the government for action “in the face of the serious public order crisis we are exeriencing,” adding: “Our hospital network is at its limit, the Pan-American Highway is in uncertainty, and our Public Force remains at the forefront of the situation, confronting this criminal onslaught. In recent hours, actions have been recorded in El Túnel, El Tambo, Caloto, Popayán, Guachené, Mercaderes, and Miranda.

“This is a direct offensive against life, against a defenseless people. We will not allow the violent to continue imposing fear and challenging the State.”