Bogotá, Colombia – Colombia was rocked Thursday by two near-simultaneous attacks that killed at least 13 people and injured dozens, marking one of the deadliest days of violence in recent months and underscoring the fragility of the country’s ongoing peace efforts.
Twin attacks strike Cali and Antioquia
In Cali, the country’s third-largest city, a car bomb exploded outside the Marco Fidel Suárez Military Aviation School, killing at least five people and wounding 36, according to Mayor Alejandro Eder. The blast shook neighborhoods across the city, forcing authorities to impose an immediate ban on the entry of heavy trucks, fearing follow-up explosions.
The bombing bore chilling similarities to a series of coordinated attacks in June that killed eight people in Valle del Cauca and neighboring Cauca. Those incidents were attributed to the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest dissident faction of the demobilized FARC guerrillas, which has recently intensified its activities in southwestern Colombia.
Hours later, tragedy struck in Amalfi, Antioquia, when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the National Police was hit by an explosive-laden drone while escorting officers conducting coca eradication operations. The aircraft crashed in a rural area, killing eight officers and injuring eight others.
Governor Andrés Julián Rendón said the helicopter was providing security to personnel carrying out manual crop eradication when it was attacked by armed dissidents. National Police Director Maj. Gen. Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán condemned the incident as a “terrorist action” and confirmed reinforcements had been deployed to secure the crash site.
Petro calls attacks “terrorism”
President Gustavo Petro condemned both incidents, calling them “crimes against humanity” that could fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“This is terrorism. What happened in Cali irradiates panic among civilians, and it is the second such event during my government,” Petro said on social media and later at a land restitution event in Valledupar.
Petro initially suggested the Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s most powerful criminal syndicate, was behind the Antioquia attack, linking it to a recent seizure of 1.5 tons of cocaine. But subsequent government assessments pointed to the 36th Front of the EMC, a faction of FARC dissidents, as the main perpetrator.
Armed groups branded as terrorists
In his speech, Petro escalated his government’s stance, announcing that the Clan del Golfo, EMC under Iván Mordisco, and the Segunda Marquetalia—another faction of former FARC commanders—would now be formally recognized as terrorist organizations.
“I have made a decision: these organizations must be considered terrorist groups, prosecutable anywhere in the world, including Bogotá,” Petro declared. He underlined the distinction between combat among armed actors and attacks designed specifically to terrorize civilians.
“Terrorists are those who instill fear in the civilian population. That is what we saw today in Cali and Amalfi,” Petro said, calling for a nationwide minute of silence for the victims.
A peace strategy under pressure
The attacks come at a precarious moment for Petro’s ambitious “Total Peace” strategy, which seeks dialogue with all illegal armed actors, from guerrilla remnants to drug cartels.
Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict, which killed more than 450,000 people and displaced millions, was formally reshaped with the 2016 peace deal between the government and the FARC. Yet dissident factions that rejected the accord, alongside the ELN (National Liberation Army) and other paramilitary successor groups, continue to wage violent campaigns tied to cocaine trafficking, extortion, and illegal mining.
Despite progress in localized negotiations, Thursday’s twin strikes highlight the resilience of armed networks and the limits of the state’s capacity to protect civilians and security forces.
“The government’s peace policy is being tested,” said a Bogotá-based security analyst. “These attacks demonstrate that dissident factions have the capability not only to resist but also to escalate with more sophisticated methods—like drones—against state forces.”
Mounting security challenges
The incidents also reflect a shift in tactics: the use of drones with explosives against military and police aircraft marks a dangerous new chapter in Colombia’s conflict. Experts warn that such methods could spread to other conflict zones, further complicating counterinsurgency and counternarcotics operations.
As families mourn the victims, security forces brace for more violence. For Petro, the attacks pose a critical challenge: balancing his pledge for dialogue and peacebuilding with the mounting calls for tougher military action against groups now officially branded as terrorists.
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