Colombia highway bombing leaves 14 dead amid ‘wave of attacks’
CNN • • world
Key Points:
- A bomb exploded on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibío, southwestern Colombia, killing at least 14 people and injuring 38, including five children, in an indiscriminate attack on civilians.
- The attack is part of a recent surge in violence described as a “wave of attacks” across Cauca and Valle del Cauca departments, with 26 terrorist actions reported over two days.
- Colombian authorities blame dissident factions of the former leftist militant group FARC, led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández ("Iván Mordisco"), for orchestrating the bombing and related attacks.
- The FARC dissidents rejected the 2016 peace agreement and continue low-level insurgency and criminal activities in rural Colombia, prompting intensified government military pressure.
- President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack, labeling the perpetrators as terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers, and called for international efforts to pursue the narco-terrorist group responsible.
