‘Guerrillas’ attack police station in north Colombia despite ceasefire

(Photo: El Espectador)

Gunshots rang out in the early hours of Tuesday morning as a police station in northern Colombia came under fire in an apparent guerrilla attack, according to local media.

The attack occurred in the town of Union Peneya in Colombia’s northern state of Norte de Santander leaving one police officer wounded, according to Colombian newspaper El Espectador.

It has not yet been determined who is responsible, as both the FARC and ELN operate in the area.

The army says it believes that the attack was carried out by the FARC’s 15th Front.

If the allegations are true — that this was an attack by either the FARC or ELN — it would be a direct violation of the ceasefire the two rebel groups agreed upon, which officially concludes on Wednesday.

MORE: FARC, ELN announce unilateral ceasefires for Colombia presidential elections, call for govt reciprocation

According to Norte de Santander police chief Eliecer Camacho, the attack came from snipers hidden on a nearby mountainside.

A 20-year old police officer was taken to a nearby hospital for “bullet wounds in his lower extremities,” and his condition was deemed as “not serious,” reported Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

Sources

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