Homemade bombs went off in a rural area of Colombia’s western state of Cauca, killing one and injuring two in an attack attributed to the FARC rebel group, the country’s oldest.
Vicky Julieth Soto Meza, a young farmer and the lone fatal victim of the attack, was just 24 years old when the bombs went off by her house.
Two other local residents, Yudi Soto and Robin Patricio Dagua, were injured and taken to a nearby hospital. They reportedly presented with shrapnel lodged in their person.
The bombs, allegedly launched by the FARC’s 6th Front, destroyed an adjacent house in the rural community of Toribio.
According to Colonel Wilson Cabra, commander of the “Fuerza de Tarea Apolo” military unit, the FARC often launch small mortar-like homemade bombs called “tatucos” indiscriminately and in bunches. The colonel said it was likely one of these fell on the house in question, according to Caracol Radio.
No motive has been presented for the attack, nor has any additional evidence of FARC involvement, aside from the colonel’s statement.
There has been a recent slew of violence following the end of the FARC’s one-month unilateral ceasefire last Wednesday.
Toward the end of last week, another bombing, also attributed to the FARC, went off in the nearby state of Valle del Cauca, injuring more than 30 civilians. Later last weekend, a Colombian military bombing killed 11 members of a roaming FARC unit in the area.
The FARC and the government are currently engaged in peace talks in Havana, Cuba, but no overarching ceasefire has been put in place. Currently, the parties are discussing the cultivation of illicit narcotics, the third of six scheduled agenda items. The fourth historical attempt at peace talks with the guerrilla group, the Havana talks have been active more or less continuously since November 2012.
