BOGOTA.- In another fact of violence in Colombia, seven people were killed and 17 others were injured, all civilians, in a attempt terrorist attack attributed to guerrillas against a bus that was traveling along a section of the Pan-American Highway, the main highway in the southwest of the country
The attack, perpetrated in an area called El Túnel, left the section of the Highway destroyed, as well as several vehicles that were traveling on the road in the municipality of Cajibío that connects with the border of Ecuador.
“An explosive device was activated on the Pan-American highway, in the El Túnel sector, Cajibío, in an indiscriminate attack against the civilian population that, preliminarily, left 7 civilians dead and more than 17 seriously injured,” reported the governor of Cauca, Octavio Guzmán, on the X network.
Authorities attributed the attack to dissidents of the FARC guerrilla who did not adhere to the 2016 peace agreement and are sowing terror in the country less than a month before the presidential elections.
Condemnation of terrorist attack
After rejecting the incident, the governor classified it as “a tragedy that tears us apart as a department and deeply mourns our families.”
The terrorist act was condemned by presidential candidates and regional authorities.
“The scenes in Cajibío, Cauca, are terrible. All the solidarity with the citizens. We demand State protection for the southwest. No more total peace,” said presidential candidate Paloma Valencia, of the opposition Democratic Center party, a native of Cauca and who has received death threats in the midst of the tense political climate.
“Once again, violence hits the civilian population and disturbs the tranquility of our communities,” said the director of the Land Restitution Unit (URT), Giovani Yule, who is a native of that region.
It was reported that the attack occurred when the Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez Suárez, was leading a security council in Cali to evaluate the situation in Valle del Cauca.
Wave of violence in Colombia
The attack is a succession of two other attacks recorded in the department of Cauca yesterday Friday, and in which cylinder bombs were also used, but which left no victims, according to the report.
The Army attributed both attacks to the Jaime Martínez column, which is part of the Central General Staff (EMC), the main dissident of the FARC, led by alias Iván Mordisco, the most wanted man in Colombia.
This Saturday, an armed group also attacked the Santana radar, located in the town of El Tambo (Cauca), used to control air traffic in that region of the country, according to the Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil).
Cajibío is a municipality located 35 kilometers from Popayán, capital of Cauca, on the Pan-American Highway, which connects with Cali, capital of the neighboring department of Valle del Cauca, where the alleged guerrillas carried out the attack.
