At Least 7 Killed in Explosions and Attacks Outside Police Stations

A wave of coordinated bombings in Colombia left seven people dead — including two police officers — and nearly 30 others injured on Tuesday, as rebel fighters unleashed violence across the city of Cali and the nearby Cauca province.

According to Colombia’s National Police, the attackers used car bombs, motorcycle explosives, gunfire, and grenades in a brutal assault targeting police stations and public spaces. Officials say the group behind the attacks is FARC-EMC, a breakaway faction of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which rejected the 2016 peace agreement and returned to armed conflict.

Military and police sources reported 24 separate attacks across Cali and the surrounding regions of Cauca and Valle del Cauca. In addition to the seven fatalities, 28 people were injured — including 19 civilians caught in the chaos.

The devastating attacks come just days after conservative presidential candidate Miguel Uribe was shot at a campaign rally in Bogota. He remains in critical condition, and authorities are still investigating who was behind the attempted assassination.

Colombia has struggled to contain the resurgence of violence in both rural and urban areas as former FARC territories have become battlegrounds for rival rebel factions and criminal groups. The collapse of peace talks between the government and the FARC-EMC last year only fueled further instability — especially after a string of violent attacks on indigenous communities.

The government is currently engaged in a separate round of negotiations with another FARC splinter group led by commander Luis Alberto Alban, also known as Marcos Calarca. But progress has been slow and tensions are mounting.