At least fourteen people have died and 38 more, including five minors, have been injured this Saturday in a bomb attack perpetrated on the Pan-American Highway, one of the main highways in Colombia, according to the official balance sheet.
This was notified by the Governor of the Department of Cauca, Octavio Guzmán, in a publication on social networks in which he expressed his solidarity with the relatives and friends of the victims of this tragedy that “deeply mourns and fills the Colombian people with pain.”
As a result of the attack, damages have also been recorded “very serious” in the road infrastructure of the area, according to Guzmán himself, who took advantage of his message to thank the work of the Ministry of Defense and “the entire military leadership” in the department of Cauca.
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon in the municipality of Cajibío, in the department of Cauca, when a cylinder bomb fell on a minibus that was traveling on the road.
The explosion has caused serious damage to the vehicle, especially to the roof and windows, according to videos broadcast on social networks, although there is also damage to other vehicles and the road itself.
The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has denounced this act as “terrorism” because it seeks to “produce massive fear in the population through violence” and has openly pointed out the guerrilla led by ‘Iván Mordisco’.
A person carries out rescue work on the Pan-American highway after an attack this Saturday, in Cajibío (Colombia).
Petro has highlighted that among the victims there are “many indigenous people” who were attacked by “terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers.” “His boss is called alias ‘Marlon’, fully identified by police and military intelligence,” he warned.
Thus, he has appealed for the “maximum global persecution” against “this narcoterrorist group.” “I want the UIAF – Financial Information and Analysis Unit – on top of their finances, I want the best soldiers to confront them, I want the people of Cauca to free themselves from this mafia, the detritus of violence,” he stated.
He has even indicated that he intends to file an accusation “to denounce their bosses in their own name before the International Criminal Court.”
The governor of Cauca, for his part, has called what happened a “terrorist escalation that demands immediate responses.” “We demand from the National Government forceful, sustained and effective actions in the face of the serious crisis of public order that we are experiencing, in addition to the urgent presence of the Ministry of Defense from Cauca,” he noted.
In addition, Guzmán has reported that there have been other attacks in El Tambo, Caloto, Popayán, Guachené, Mercaderes and Miranda. “This is a direct offensive against life, against a defenseless people. We are not going to allow the violent to continue imposing fear and challenging the State,” he stressed.
