At least 18 people died and more than forty were injured on Thursday after two attacks in Colombia attributed to various dissident factions of the former partisan group Farc, according to Reuters reporting the authorities.
“In Cali, the third most populous city in the country, a truck with explosives exploded near the Colombian air base, an incident that left six people dead and 71 injuries,” according to the mayor’s office.
A few hours earlier, the National Police Black Hawk UH-60 was shot down in Amalfi, which was attended by an operation of eradication of Koka leaves.
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Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused attacks on the dissident factions of the former revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (Farc) Guerrilla Group, which refused a peace agreement in 2016 to end the long -term internal conflict that remained more than 450,000 dead.
President Gustavo Petro initially attributed an attack by a helicopter to the Gulf clan, the largest Colombian active drug cartel, suggesting that it was a retaliatory strike after the main cocaine seizure associated with the group.
In the paper on X, Petro said, “This is one of the alleged perpetrators of the Cali attack with a truck/bomb, captured by the community at the incident. It is aka Sebastian and is one of the EMC structures led by a alias Marlon, led by the drug trafficking Council.”
It is known that both Farc dissident groups refused to sign a peace agreement in 2016, and the Persian Gulf clan operates in the Antioquia area, where the helicopter was reduced.
Meanwhile, the cultivation of coca leaves in Colombia continues to grow and, according to the latest data of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime in 2023, the total cultivation in 2023 reached a record 253,000 hectares in 2023.
(This is an evolving story)
(With Reuters inputs)
(Tagstotranslate) group of dissident groups FARC
