Colombia rocked by bombings, shootings in southwest: 7 killed, 28 injured; fears rise of return to 90s-style guerrilla violence

A wave of 24 coordinated bombings and gun assaults killed at the least 7 folks and injured 28 others in southwestern Colombia on Tuesday, as authorities blamed dissident guerrilla fighters for what safety specialists are calling a “well-coordinated offensive.”Police posts, municipal buildings, and civilian areas in Cali — Colombia’s third-largest metropolis — and close by cities together with Villa Rica, Guachinte, and Corinto have been focused utilizing automotive bombs, bike bombs, drones, and gunfire. Charred automobiles and particles littered the streets, with AFP journalists reporting intensive injury to infrastructure.“There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead,” National Police chief Carlos Fernando Triana mentioned. Later updates confirmed seven fatalities and practically 30 injured.The assault comes simply days after an tried assassination of conservative senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe in Bogotá. The high-profile assault, involving a teenage gunman, has already heightened fears of a return to Colombia’s violent previous marked by guerrilla warfare, cartel bombings, and political killings.In Corinto, resident Luz Amparo described the chaos after a blast destroyed her household bakery. “We thought it was an earthquake,” she advised AFP, recalling how her husband shortly realised they have been underneath assault. “Everything was leveled.”Security analysts and police suspect the assaults have been carried out by the Central General Staff (EMC), a breakaway faction of the once-dominant FARC insurgent group. “This is a particularly well-coordinated offensive,” mentioned Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group. “It really demonstrates the capacity that the group has built… and their ability to conduct operations in the metropolitan area of Cali.”Dickinson recommended the assaults could also be retaliation for an ongoing army operation that reportedly wounded or killed EMC’s elusive chief, “Iván Mordisco.” In a press release, EMC warned civilians to keep away from army and police amenities however didn’t declare accountability.President Gustavo Petro, whose peace overtures to armed teams together with the EMC have repeatedly failed, faces mounting criticism over safety lapses. Following the try on Uribe’s life — in which the senator was shot twice in the top — Petro speculated on social media that a global “mafia” could have orchestrated the hit, and questioned why Uribe’s safety was scaled again earlier than the incident.