Threats and attacks by the FARC guerrilla group are disrupting the presidential elections in south-west Colombia, authorities said Sunday morning.
Electoral committees in the north of the Cauca department say they feel seriously threatened by armed attacks carried out by FARC rebels in the region.
Bus drivers in the town of Argelia are refusing to work because guerrillas have been attacking the town throughout the weekend, newspaper El Espectador reported.
According to a delegate of the Colombia’s National Registrar, the government entity responsible for the elections, the FARC is blocking all traffic to prevent voters of the rural area reaching polling stations.
In the Valle del Cauca department, armed confrontations between the army and guerrillas are taking place, Colombia’s Interior and Justice Ministry said in its first report of the day on public order. The fighting started after the army found that guerrillas were planting explosives in the area to prevent people from voting.
Other explosives were dismantled and fighting took place in the central Tolima department.
One soldier was killed in a confrontation with rebels in the central Meta department and in the north-western Antioquia department, a soldier was injured when guerrillas attacked his patrol, the army said Sunday.
According to unconfirmed citizen reports, guerrillas on Saturday evening burnt ballot boxes in Riosucio, a town close to the border with Panama and a bomb was set off early Sunday morning in the eastern city of Bucaramanga.
