An attack by the FARC guerrilla group on Sunday night left 30,000 residents without electricity in the south-western town of Barbacoas, in Colombia’s Pacific coast department of Nariño, El Espectador reported Monday.
According to Barbacoas’ mayor, Arnulfo Reciado, the incident began when the FARC attacked the town’s police station with explosives and gun-fire. “There were some bombs, hand grenades, and the police responded to the attack with gunfire,” Reciado said.
Following the attack, troops from the Colombian navy, with the support of the air force, went on the offensive against the FARC’s 29th Front, who authorities are blaming for the attack.
Reciado reported that no-one was injured or killed during the attack, but that the town was left without electricity.
The FARC are currently very active in the Nariño department. In late March, the FARC ordered a 12-year-old boy to deliver a bomb to a police station in the town of El Charco, which exploded, resulting in the boy’s death.
In November of last year, the FARC opened fire upon and then burned a bus carrying civilians, resulting in six deaths.