Colombia highway bomb kills 21 as pre-election violence escalates
A highway bombing in Colombia blamed on rebel drug traffickers has killed 21 and wounded 56, the worst attack on civilians in decades, occurring just weeks before national elections. President Petro blamed the attack on a dissident Farc leader, while candidates campaign under heavy security amid rising political violence.
Cocaine-trafficking rebel groups are blamed for the worst attack on civilians in decades, which also left 56 injured.
The death toll from a highway bombing in Colombia blamed on cocaine-trafficking rebel groups rose to 21, the government said Monday, in the worst attack on civilians in decades just ahead of elections.
Saturday's attack also left 56 injured, with buses and trucks mangled on the Pan-American Highway in the restive southwestern province of Cauca.
Governor Octavio Guzmán described the bombing as 'the most brutal and heartless attack on civilians in decades,' adding that it left a 200-cubic-meter crater. Many cars were overturned by the force of the blast.
Among the injured, three remained in intensive care. Five children were wounded but were 'out of danger.'
Army commander Hugo López said at a press conference Saturday that the bomb detonated after attackers blocked traffic by blocking the road with a bus and another vehicle. 'This is a terrorist attack against civilians,' López said.
The attack came just over a month before a national election where voters will choose a successor to leftist President Gustavo Petro.
'Those who carried out this attack… are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,' Petro said on X. 'I want our best soldiers to confront them.'
Petro blamed the bombing on Iván Mordisco, the alias of the most wanted criminal in the South American country, whom the president compared to late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Mordisco is leader of a dissident faction of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) active in the region.
A bomb attack Friday on a military base in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, wounded two people and triggered a series of attacks in the provinces of Valle del Cauca and Cauca.
According to López, 26 attacks were recorded in those two provinces over the past two days.
The authorities have reinforced the army and police presence in the area, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday.
Colombia has a history of armed groups – funding their activities through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion – trying to influence elections through violence.
Remnants of Farc rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government and are actively trying to disrupt stalled peace talks with Petro.
Security is a central issue in the May 31 presidential election. Political violence came into focus in June last year when young conservative presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the capital Bogotá. He died two months later from his injuries.
Leftist Senator Iván Cepeda, the architect of Petro's controversial policy of negotiating with armed groups, is leading in polls.
He is followed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, both pledging a hardline stance against rebel groups.
All three have reported receiving death threats and campaign under tight security protection.
