Two Colombian government workers were killed Sunday
when the car they were traveling in activated several land mines buried
underneath the road, officials said.
Three other government employees traveling in the same car were also injured in the explosion.
Victims of the blast, which occurred
in the southern city of San Vicente del Caguan, are all from the
Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), according to government
secretary of the city Mauricio Orozco.
Local military officials alleged
that a group of FARC rebels operating in the region have planted
anti-personnel mines along the route to deter government forces.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), the country’s most powerful rebel group, has been
trying to topple the Bogota government since the 1960s.
A local military commander
denounced the use of land mines by the rebels, adding that the
government forces have already stepped up efforts to capture the
“perpetrators of this crime.” (Xinhua)