Southwest Colombia was rocked by a string of explosions and gun attacks that left at least three people dead on Tuesday, police said, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack designed to sow terror.
The attacks hit Cali – the country’s third largest city – and several nearby towns, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings.
In the town of Corinto, an AFP journalist witnessed the tangled wreckage of a car that had exploded next to a scorched and badly damaged municipal building.
The head of police Carlos Fernando Triana told La FM radio that assailants had attacked targets with car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone.
“There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead,” he said.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks, but guerrillas who broke away from the once-powerful FARC militia are known to operate in the area.
Triana suggested the attacks may be linked to the third anniversary of the killing of FARC dissident leader Leider Johani Noscue, better known as “Mayimbu”.
The bombings came just days after the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate in Bogota, a brazen attack that has put the country on edge.
Conservative senator Miguel Uribe, 39, was shot twice in the head at close range by a 15-year-old alleged hitman while campaigning Saturday in Bogota.
That attack has stunned Colombians and prompted febrile speculation about who was responsible.
Thousands have taken to the streets in major cities to light candles, pray and voice their anger at the assassination attempt.
Many Colombians are fearful of a return to the bloody violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cartel attacks and political assassinations were commonplace.
