At least 19 people were killed and dozens injured on Thursday in two separate terrorist attacks in Colombia, both attributed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Marxist terror group.
Colombia suffered a new wave of violence on Thursday afternoon after a vehicle loaded with explosives detonated near a military air base in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca, killing six and leaving 76 injured, including eight children and three elderly adults over the age of 60.
Colombian Defense Minister Petro Arnulfo Sanchez confirmed on social media that the FARC forces led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, also known as “Ivan Mordisco,” were behind the attack. The Marxist terrorist group, originally founded in the 1960s, claims that it “abandoned terrorism” and “demobilized” its armed forces after it signed a “peace deal” in 2016 with former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Santos won a Nobel Peace Prize that year for his efforts. The deal awarded numerous benefits to FARC’s leadership including legal immunity and uncontested congressional seats.
In reality, FARC maintained its narco-terrorist activities after the agreement and continues to carry out terrorist attacks in Colombia. The Colombian government and mainstream media claim that the active FARC forces are a “dissident” faction and that the “true” FARC is the leadership in the capital city of Bogotá.
Mayor of Cali Alejandro Eder spoke with Caracol Radio on Friday morning and detailed that all injured individuals are being treated at local health centers depending on the severity of their wounds. Eder stated that local authorities are working to ensure the city’s safety and prevent such incidents from happening again.
“We were at the Security Council until three in the morning last night, first with the president and the leadership, then with the minister and the leadership,” Eder said. “But as a Cali resident who is deeply saddened by what happened yesterday, an act of pure and simple narco-terrorism, I am very moved by the suffering of the affected families and the people of Cali, but determined to find those responsible for this crime.”
In a separate interview with Blu Radio, Eder explained that the attack sought to cause a massacre, and it involved a second explosives-loaded vehicle that fortunately did not go off. The mayor rhetorically questioned why the hour and location of the attack were chosen amid heavy traffic “if not to kill. They wanted to murder, they wanted to sow terror.”
“Thank God it [the second vehicle] didn’t explode, but I don’t want to say it was because of incompetence. These are groups of drug dealers who are learning, but who need to be dealt with now because their goal is to murder Colombians and recruit children in marginalized neighborhoods,” Eder said.
The mayor warned that Thursday’s car bomb attack in Cali cannot be seen as an isolated incident, but as a threat that could spread to other regions of Colombia if there is no swift and decisive response from the national authorities. Eder stressed that his office faces budget constraints that restrict its intelligence and security capabilities. The mayor also urged authorities to help recover the nearby town of Jamundí, where, he detailed, some 2,000 hectares’ worth of coca crops — cocaine’s main ingredient — are located.
Hours before the car bomb attack in Cali, at least 12 police officers were killed in the rural town of Amalfi, Antioquia, when their transport helicopter was attacked by a drone. On Friday, Antioquia governor Andrés Julián Rendon confirmed that a thirteenth officer who had initially survived the attack died from his wounds in the early morning hours.
“At 11:30 yesterday, we had six dead and eleven wounded. Today, the tragic toll is thirteen dead and three wounded,” Rendon said. “We don’t understand why it took the security forces so long to get there, to recover the bodies of the uniformed personnel, to rescue the wounded.”
The Colombian magazine Semana reported on Friday that it obtained a copy of an official document from the local Antioquia government dated June in which it requested urgent assistance from the national government due to the deterioration of security in the area and the escalation of violence from illegal armed groups, who had “overwhelmed” the capacity of local police and military forces.
Far-left President Gustavo Petro explained on Thursday that the attack against the police helicopter was carried out by FARC’s “36th Front,” one of the several branches of the Central General Staff (EMC), the “official” name of the FARC “dissident” group.
Videos reportedly filmed by FARC forces and shared by local outlets show FARC terrorists cheering “we did it, we did it” after the police helicopter went down.
“It was good, it was good. Good, good. Congratulations. Don’t screw around, let those bastards feel it,” a voice is heard saying in the video.
Colombia is presently experiencing a wave of growing violence that has not just targeted civilians and law enforcement officials, but also politicians. In early August, conservative Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay died after following a difficult two-month-long fight for his life after he was shot by a child in June. According to ongoing investigations, FARC commander José Aldinever “Zarco Aldinever” Sierra Sabogal is believed to have organized the attack on Uribe from within Venezuelan territory. FARC recently claimed that Sierra Sabogal was “betrayed” and killed by the Marxist National Liberation Army (ELN) terrorist group.
Last week, conservative Congressman Julio César Triana survived an attack after his motorcade was assaulted by unknown individuals near the town of La Plata, Huila. President Petro said at the time that the area where the incident occurred is “controlled” by FARC forces led by alias “Ivan Mordisco,” who is attributed with Thursday’s car bomb attack in Cali.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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