Colombian authorities uncovered an alleged FARC plot to launch a terrorist attack in Bogota on August 7, the day of the inauguration of President-Elect Juan Manuel Santos.
Marilu Mendez, the director of the prosecutor general’s investigative body CTI, said that agents had raided a house in south Bogota Tuesday night, where they seized two mortars, plans of the Casa de Nariño, Plaza Bolivar, and other buildings surrounding the area where Santos’ swearing-in ceremony will take place.
CTI official Carlos Mario Restrepo said authorities believe that the mortars were going to be used on the day of the inauguration.
Mendez said two people, who authorities believe to be members of the FARC, were arrested during the raid.
A similar attack took place during outgoing President Alvaro Uribe’s inauguration in 2002, when FARC guerrillas launched hand-made explosives at the Casa de Nariño, killing nineteen and injuring 40 more.
According to El Tiempo, the weapons seized are similar to those used by the FARC in their 2002 attack.