Colombia attack kills 4 civilians, 18 hurt in Planadas

A bomb attack near a military base in Planadas, in Colombia’s Tolima department, killed four civilians, including a two-month-old baby, on the night of Sunday, Nov. 1, and President Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to keep bombing armed groups in response.

At least 18 people were injured and about 80 per cent of the town’s hospital was damaged, according to preliminary figures from Tolima authorities reported by El Tiempo and The City Paper Bogotá. The Associated Press reported the attack on Nov. 2.

The blast came at about 9:44 p.m., El Tiempo reported, in the El Aeropuerto neighbourhood of the town of roughly 30,000 people. El Tiempo identified three of the dead as Joseph Sánchez, his two-month-old daughter and young athlete Juliana Olaya. It did not name the fourth victim. No soldiers were reported killed in any of the three accounts.

Accounts differ on how the attack was carried out. The AP said unidentified assailants fired rockets made from gas cylinders at the base, citing Planadas Mayor Juan Camilo Hueje, and that some struck a nearby hospital and homes across from the base. El Tiempo and The City Paper reported that a dump truck carrying explosives detonated near the base. El Tiempo, which put the load at three cylinder bombs, also reported a second, nearly simultaneous drone attack. That detail appeared in no other outlet.

No group has claimed responsibility. The City Paper reported that preliminary investigations by the Tolima governor’s office point to possible involvement of two FARC dissident structures, the Ismael Ruiz and Gerónimo Galeano fronts. El Tiempo, citing a military intelligence report, said the two groups carried out the attack together. Tolima Gov. Adriana Magali Matiz called it terrorism by criminal networks tied to illegal mining and drug trafficking.

“We reject this attack that affected our hospital, put the lives of patients and medical personnel at risk,” Hueje said in a Facebook post, the AP reported. “Planadas deserves to live in peace.” He declared a curfew and evacuated the hospital, and the injured were treated at a school, El Tiempo reported. About 177 homes were damaged, according to El Tiempo and The City Paper.

De la Espriella, who took office in August and suspended peace talks with remaining rebel groups, said on X that “we will use the full capacity of the state to finish off these criminal structures.” He also said the government will “continue to bomb legitimate targets, intensify special operations” and restart aerial spraying of coca fields, the AP reported.

Human Rights Ombudswoman Iris Marín said the attack was an infringement of international humanitarian law, the AP reported. She has said two rebel groups have been fighting for control of the area around Planadas since 2022.

The attack was one of several in southern Colombia over the weekend. A motorcycle bomb in Algeciras, Huila, on Oct. 31 killed police officer Julián Esmith Castaño López, according to The City Paper, and explosive attacks were reported in Cauca department. The AP cited the conflict-monitoring group ACLED as counting 34 bomb or explosive attacks in Colombia in the four weeks ending Oct. 16, up nine per cent from last year’s four-week average.

The violence follows weeks of tension in the country. Canada News Media has reported on more than 300 U.S. troops joining drills in Colombia and on a protest march against the president in October.

Canadians planning travel to Colombia can check the current advisory for the country on the Government of Canada’s travel.gc.ca page. Global Affairs Canada had not commented on the Planadas attack at the time of publication.

Via The Associated Press, The City Paper Bogotá and El Tiempo. This is a developing story and figures may change.

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