A series of bomb attacks in the southwestern city of Tumaco on Tuesday has left the city without water and electricity.
According to reports, one car bomb detonated near the local headquarters of state-owned oil company Ecopetrol at 02:00AM Tuesday night, causing extensive material damage to water and electricity installations. A few minutes after the first explosion, the army’s Fourth Brigade headquarters was ambushed by unknown perpetrators who let off two explosive charges, allegedly intending to prevent soldiers from leaving the building to investigate the explosion. There were no reports of wounded soldiers or civilians.
As of Tuesday morning, Tumaco was still without water or electricity due to the attack, which authorities attributed to the FARC’s Daniel Aldana Front, a subdivision of the FARC’s Western Bloc.
Colombia’s defense minister, Juan Carlos Pinzon, condemned the attacks on Tuesday and said they were “indiscriminate attacks of terrorism with the intention of harming the civilian population.”
Tumaco, with a population of 100,000 people, is a major transport hub for cocaine traffickers due to its location by the Pacific coast and its proximity to some of Colombia’s most extensive coca growing areas. The city sees the presence of many armed groups, among them the drug trafficking organization Los Rastrojos and left-wing FARC rebels.
Sources
- Por dos ataques terroristas, Tumaco se levantó a oscuras y sin agua (El Tiempo)
- Atentado en Tumaco con carrobomba y dos cilindros (El Pais, Cali)
