At least nine people have been injured, including children, after Colombia’s largest rebel group FARC allegedly exploded a car bomb in the southwest of the country.
Police say that the bomb, rigged in an old Land Rover, exploded at 2AM on Tuesday morning on a bridge over the river Mandiva in the municipality of Santander de Quilichao, Cauca state.
The Cauca police commander, Ricardo Augusto Alarcon, said that the explosion left a six-foot deep hole in the road, and damaged at least 10 houses. He added that between two and four children were injured by the bomb blast.
The police have blamed the FARC for the attack, specifically the rebel group’s 6th Front, which operates in the area and controls much of the marijuana production in Cauca.
The Front is led by “Sergeant Pascuas,” a member of the FARC’s delegation at the ongoing peace talks with the government in Havana, Cuba.
In August two commanders of the Front, “El Burro” and “Jamito,” were killed by a military airstrike in Cuaca.
MORE: Commanders of FARC elite unit killed in southwest Colombia air strike: Army
Peace talks between the FARC and the government have been suspended until the end of October after no agreement was made about political participation, the second point on the 5-point agenda. On November 18 the talks will have been running for a year.
MORE: Colombia peace talks paused until end of October, no deal on FARC’s political participation
Santander de Quilichao, Cauca state
Sources
- Al menos nueve heridos deja atentando de las Farc al norte del Cauca (Vanguardia)
- Por lo menos 9 heridos deja atentando de las Farc al norte del Cauca (El Pais)
- FARC’s 6th Front Commanders Killed in Southwest Colombia (Insight Crime)
