An attack with explosives in a rural area in southwest Colombia killed eight police officers on Friday (2), the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, said on social media. This is the most serious attack on security forces since he took power early last month.
Police say the agents died when the vehicle they were in was hit by explosives in San Luis, Huila. The village is about two hours from Neiva, capital of the department.
Petro did not name the attackers, but dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are known to operate in the region. According to government data, around 2,400 guerrillas reject the peace agreement negotiated by their former leadership in 2016.
Colombia’s first leftist president seeks to advance peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), which were sidelined in 2019 after an attack on a police school that left 21 dead and 68 injured.
It also proposes what it calls a “multilateral ceasefire” with dissidents and drug trafficking gangs, part of its “total peace” policy to end the armed conflict that has plagued the South American country for nearly six decades.
Dissident factions and some drug traffickers linked to the powerful Gulf Clan have expressed interest in the ceasefire, but have not yet reached an agreement with the government.
For Petro, the attack now is a clear “attempt to sabotage total peace”, as he wrote on Twitter. He added that he asked the authorities to investigate the case.
