Residents fled their homes in southwest Colombia over concerns of escalating violence, after FARC attacks on Thursday and Friday night injured a local police inspector, local media reported Friday.
There were no other reports of death or injury in the assault on the municipality of Toribio, in the department of Cauca, according to Department Secretary Edith Milena Cabezas. FARC rebels wielded rifles and launched homemade explosive known as “tatucos” in the attack, she revealed.
A high alert was declared in the nearby community of Miranda, 28 miles north of Toribio, after the murder of a leading coffee producer, who’s death has been attributed to the FARC. Dozens of families were forced to abandon their homes in Miranda in late April during attacks by the guerrilla group. The region is a stronghold of the FARC’s 6th Front.