(Bogota) Two people – a soldier and a civilian – were killed Wednesday in a bomb attack at the entrance to a military barracks in Colombia, authorities said.
Posted at 10:26 p.m.
The explosion occurred in Granada, a city in the department of Meta (southern Colombia). “There was an attack against the military installations of Battalion 21,” Hernan Gomez, a member of the Meta region government, told reporters.
“Unfortunately, a soldier and a civilian lost their lives,” he said.
And five soldiers were injured by shrapnel. No one, however, said whether the author had died in the attack.
According to General Antonio Beltrán, a motor scooter – similar to a tuk-tuk – tried to enter the military base before exploding.
The driver was a member of a breakaway entity from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that did not sign the 2016 peace accord, according to the general.
The action of the dead soldier to prevent the vehicle from advancing further prevented the detonation from occurring within the confines of the base, said the general, who condemned this “terrorist act”.
“We will react firmly and catch those responsible. The death of a soldier makes us suffer,” Defense Minister Diego Molano tweeted.
Colombia is experiencing renewed violence five years after the historic signing of the pact with the FARC guerrillas.
Granada authorities have declared a curfew until Thursday morning. “We are not going to allow Meta to be a battleground again,” Gomez said.
About 2,500 fighters, without a unified command, rejected the peace agreement signed in November 2016 between the FARC and the government which led to the disarmament of around 7,000 rebels.