On Thursday, an unusual wave of violence across Colombia left at least 14 people dead. Law enforcement officials have rightly described these horrifying incidents as acts of terror. The attacks included a drone strike on a Colombian National Police helicopter and a subsequent explosion near the Marco Fidel Suárez military air base in Cali, leaving many injured and raising concerns over security in the region.
The artillery or helicopter attack directly hit in the department of Antioquia. At the time, the plane was still directly providing support for manual efforts to remove illegal crops. In this recent event, when the drone sought to attack the helicopter, two uniformed officers were injured. Antioquia Governor Andrés Julián Rendón blamed the attack on the 36th Front of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC). He pointed out that this group is made up of former dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
An explosion outside the military air base in Cali on March 14 left at least eight dead and at least eight more wounded by shrapnel. President Gustavo Petro called the attack with the tragic details that have now been confirmed. The local health secretariat has provided updates indicating the explosion has killed at least six people and wounded nearly 50 others. In the wake of these attacks, National Police Director Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán condemned the violence and characterized it as a “terrorist act.”
Emergency response services were swift to rush in and save the injured. Alcalde Alejandro Eder reiterated that police units were present at the scene, assisting those injured in the blast. The Colombian government’s response has been swift considering the seriousness of the situation. Defence Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez explicitly stated that the 36th Front of EMC was behind both attacks.
Investigators are offering a reward of 400 million pesos, about $100,000, authorities announced. They are looking for actionable intelligence that will get them to the people who carried out the attacks. This program is an amazing example that demonstrates the desperate need for community engagement in preventing these types of acts of violence.
