Car bomb kills 18 in Colombia!
Bogotá/Cali, Aug 21 (EFE).-
At least 18 people were killed and 65 injured in Colombia on Thursday in two coordinated attacks — a vehicle bombing in Cali and the downing of a police helicopter in Antioquia — prompting President Gustavo Petro to designate some armed groups as terrorist organizations.
The first attack occurred in El Chispero, a rural area of Amalfi, in the northwestern department of Antioquia, where 12 anti-narcotics police officers were killed when the helicopter they were flying in was struck, possibly by a drone, during an operation to eradicate illicit crops.
Hours later, a vehicle bomb detonated on a street in Colombia’s third-largest city Cali, near the Marco Fidel Suárez Military Aviation School, killing at least six people and injuring 65 – all passing civilians, according to the latest report from the Mayor’s Office.
The explosion also left extensive destruction on Carrera Octava, the busy avenue lined with businesses where the base is located.
Authorities said a man was arrested at the scene, and allege he is part of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest faction of dissidents of the former FARC. They blamed the EMC for both of Thurday’s attacks.
“This is terrorism. What happened in Cali irradiates panic among civilians, and it is the second such event during my government,” Petro said, calling the acts “crimes against humanity” that could fall under International Criminal Court jurisdiction.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia condemned both attacks and urged non-state armed groups to respect human rights and international humanitarian laws.
Petro targets armed groups with new designation
Speaking at a land restitution event in Valledupar, Petro said his government’s investigations identified the Clan del Golfo, the EMC, and the Segunda Marquetalia as what he called “the board of directors of narcotrafficking.”
“I have made a decision: these organizations must be considered terrorist groups, prosecutable anywhere in the world, including Bogotá,” the president declared.
Petro explained the distinction between combat among armed groups and attacks deliberately designed to terrorize civilians.
“Terrorists are those who instill fear in the civilian population. That is what we saw today in Cali and Amalfi,” he said, requesting a minute of silence for the victims.
The president, widely criticized for the rise in violence in the country, traveled to Cali at night with the military and police leadership and, according to local press, is preparing a decree to declare a state of internal unrest, an exceptional measure to address serious disturbances of public order that jeopardize state security and citizen coexistence.
Conflict and peace process under strain
Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict, which left over 450,000 dead and millions displaced, formally shifted in 2016 when the FARC signed a peace deal with the government.
However, dissident factions of the guerrilla group, along with the National Liberation Army (ELN) and paramilitary successor organizations, continue to wage violence tied to drug trafficking and illegal activities in areas historically affected by armed conflict.
President Petro, Colombia’s first leftist leader, has promoted a “Total Peace” strategy since taking office in 2022, seeking negotiations with all illegal armed actors. But repeated attacks have fueled criticism that the policy has emboldened groups rather than curbing violence.
The Cali attack echoed a wave of coordinated bombings in June that killed eight people in Valle del Cauca and neighboring Cauca, also attributed to the EMC.
Those bombings, along with Thursday’s attacks, highlighted the presence of armed groups in regions where the state presence is distant.
While no group has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s bomb in Cali, the synchronized nature of the strikes has intensified fear among the population and criticism from election candidates.
Colombia’s security remains on high alert, with reinforcements deployed in both affected areas. EFE mf-pc-seo/dgp-tw
