Suicide Truck Bombing in Colombia Kills At Least 21

VOA News
Last Updated: 18 January 2019 (1:26AM)

A suicide truck bombing on a police academy Thursday in Colombia killed at least 21 people and wounded at least 68.

Colombian President Ivan Duque canceled a meeting that was to have been held in western Colombia and rushed back to visit the blast site near Bogota.

“This is an attack not only against the young, the security forces or the police. It’s an attack against society,” Duque said. “This demented terrorist act will not go unpunished.”

Kimberley Breier, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Latin America, also condemned the attack and said the U.S. sends its condolences to the victims and their families.

The pickup packed with explosives crashed through the gate of the officers’ school south of the capital, despite the entrance being surrounded by armed guards and bomb-sniffing dogs.

Colombian prosecutors have identified the driver, but no group has claimed responsibility.

But the ELN rebel group has increased attacks on police since peace talks stalled when the rebels refused to heed the government demand that it free all hostages.

ELN is now the country’s largest armed rebel group since FARC disbanded and turned into a political party as part of a peace deal with the government.

Despite a long history of guerrilla violence in Colombia, major terrorist bombings in the country have been rare.