Truck bomb near military base in Colombia’s Planadas kills four, including a two-month-old baby
A truck bomb detonated near a military base in Planadas, in Colombia’s Tolima department, on Sunday night, killing four people including a two-month-old girl and wounding at least 17 others.
A truck bomb detonated near a military base in the western Colombian town of Planadas on Sunday night, killing four people, including a two-month-old baby girl, and wounding at least 17 others, local authorities said. The blast struck in Planadas, in the Tolima department, damaging a hospital, a pharmacy and several homes and leaving streets strewn with rubble. Footage from the scene showed residents pulling victims from debris as emergency workers rushed the wounded to treatment. Tolima Governor Adriana Magali Matiz confirmed the toll in a post on X, writing with deep sorrow that the attack had left a preliminary toll of four people dead, including a baby girl of only two months old. She described the bombing as an act of utmost gravity that the authorities rejected with absolute forcefulness. Planadas Mayor Juan Camilo Hueje said drones had been seen flying over the town and that several wounded people were taken to a local school for treatment. The use of drones by armed groups, alongside explosives, has become a growing feature of attacks in the region. Colombia's Defence Ministry blamed a renegade faction of the once-powerful FARC guerrilla army, which signed a peace accord with the government in 2016 to end decades of fighting. Factions that rejected that deal have continued to operate, and officials say they are behind a recent string of attacks. Local officials, however, said it was not yet fully clear who was responsible for the Planadas blast, and investigations were continuing. The bombing came as Colombia's new right-wing President, Abelardo de la Espriella, has stepped up military operations against the country's drug-trafficking leftist insurgents. The rebels have in turn kept up attacks of their own, launching four in the past week alone, including one that killed a police officer over the weekend. The Planadas attack was the most serious in a series of recent explosions across Colombia. Reports counted at least four explosive attacks in recent days that killed several people and forced hundreds to flee their homes in different areas, including fighting that displaced around 500 members of the Emberá Dóbida community in Chocó province. In response, the president condemned the attacks on civilians and law enforcement and announced increased deployment of troops and police in affected areas, alongside intensified operations against armed groups. He had already ordered an increased military presence in Cúcuta, on the Venezuelan border, after a series of violent incidents there. The 2016 peace agreement ended more than five decades of conflict between the state and the FARC, but dissident groups that refused to disarm have remained active, financing themselves through drug trafficking and illegal mining and fighting both the state and rival groups for territory. For residents of Planadas, the immediate aftermath has been one of funerals, damaged homes and a heightened military presence. Hospitals treated the wounded while soldiers patrolled the town, and local authorities worked to assess the full extent of the damage. What happens next will depend on the investigation into who planted the explosives and on whether the government's stepped-up operations can prevent further attacks. For now, officials have warned that the threat from dissident groups remains high, and the bombing has underlined how fragile security remains in parts of rural Colombia a decade after the peace deal.Advertisement · Google AdSense 728×90 / 320×100
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