24 minutes agoPowerful explosion in Colombia: 9 Killed and More Than 20 Injured
Periskopi(7 years ago)
(7 years ago)A bomb car exploded at a police academy in Colombia's capital, Bogota, on Thursday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 20 others in an attack that caused fears of a return to the country's violent past. According to authorities, the car, a grey Nissan Patol, broke the checkpoint [...]
According to authorities, the car, a grey Nissan Patrol, broke the checkpoints at 9:30 in the morning at the base of the General School “Santander”, south of the capital, before it exploded, destroying apartment windows in the vicinity.
President Ivan Duque called the bombing a crazy terrorist “action against unarmed cadets and said he had ordered police and army to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
The Colombians have never produced terrorism, we have always defeated it. This case will make no exception”, he said at a news conference in school.
Investigators had identified the driver of the car as Jose Aldemar Rojas Rodriguez, who was among the dead, said Colombia's Attorney General Nestor Lostto Martinez. He said the car carried 50 pounds [80 kg] of high explosives pentolit, which was used in the past by the rebel guerrilla groups of Colombia.
The defence ministry said in a statement that nine people were killed and 24 were injured. Eight of the dead were screws at the academy, police said. Car bombs were frequent in Colombia during decades of civil war between the state and various leftist rebel groups, as well as the violence involving the Medelelli drug cartel led by Pablo Escobar.
The worst of the war, which killed about 260,000 and left millions displaced, ended when the government reached a peace agreement with the Columbia Revolutionary Forces (FARC) in 2016, broadcasts tch.
The last major attack was in January 2018 when the largest rebel group still active, the National Liberation Army (ELN), exploded a bomb in the port city of Barranquilla, killing five policemen and injuring dozens.
ELN, comprised of about 2,000 fighters and is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, has been in talks with the government since February 2017 to end the conflict. Duque, who took office in August, has conditioned peace talks with ELN by suspending hostilities and releasing all hostages.
