Colombia Faces Surge in Violence Amid Coordinated Attacks

Colombia has witnessed a surge in violence following a series of coordinated bombings and gun attacks that resulted in the deaths of at least four individuals in the south-western region. According to national police chief Carlos Fernando Triana, 19 separate assaults targeted police stations, municipal buildings, and civilians in and around Cali, the country’s third-largest city. The violence included car and motorcycle bombs, gunfire, and a suspected drone strike.

Among the casualties are two police officers and at least two civilians, with an additional 12 people injured. Eyewitnesses in affected areas reported extensive damage, including a destroyed bakery in Corinto, where a resident likened the explosion to an earthquake. Security experts attribute the attacks to a dissident faction of the former Farc guerrilla group known as the Central General Staff, which is believed to be retaliating against military operations targeting its leadership.

This wave of violence follows the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe just days earlier, raising fears among Colombians of a return to the turbulent violence of the 1980s and 1990s.