At least 20 people were killed and another 45 were injured in a series of guerrilla attacks in southwest Colombia over the weekend.
The offensive began on Friday and targeted military and civil infrastructure targets in the Cauca and Valle del Cauca provinces.
The worst of the 31 attacks took place on Saturday in the municipality Cajibio where armed men blocked traffic and detonated IED’s.
The blast killed 20 passengers of a bus, injured another 30 and left 15 vehicles incinerated.
According to authorities, the Jaime Martinez Front (JMF) of FARC dissident group EMC was behind the offensive that struck at least 12 municipalities.
The JMF control much of the EMC’s cocaine production facilities and illegal mining operations in Cauca.
In an initial response, President Gustavo Petro said the perpetrators of the attacks and the EMC’s top commander, “Ivan Mordisco,” were “terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers.”
The factions led by Iván Mordisco in Cauca are criminals guilty of crimes against humanity and must be treated as such.
President Gustavo Petro
“They want that the far-right, the fascists, governs Colombia because they know they can do their cocaine and gold businesses with them,” said Petro.
The dissidents did not immediately accept or reject responsibility for one of the deadliest guerrilla offensives since the beginning of a peace process with the FARC in 2016.
Throughout the peace process, dissidents have tried to retake territories and cocaine trafficking routes that were abandoned by the FARC when they demobilized and disarmed in 2017.
This has gradually increased levels of violence in former FARC territories, particularly in Cauca where indigenous leaders have been trying to recuperate indigenous lands.
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