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Car bomb near Colombian border station kills one and injures eleven

A civilian was killed and several police officers were wounded in an explosion outside a station in the town of Los Patios.

The short version

  • A car bomb detonated near midnight outside a police station in Los Patios, Colombia, near the Venezuelan border.
  • The attack killed at least one civilian and injured eleven other people, including several police officers.
  • No group has claimed immediate responsibility, but Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella vowed the government will pursue the perpetrators.

Key facts

  • A car bomb exploded around midnight outside a police station in Los Patios, a town in northeastern Colombia within the Cucuta metropolitan area.[ABC News · Associated Press]
  • At least one civilian died and eleven others were injured, with police officers among those wounded in the blast.[ABC News · Associated Press]
  • Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, who assumed office in August, condemned the attack as terrorism and promised to pursue those responsible.[ABC News · Associated Press]
  • President de la Espriella recently canceled peace talks that the previous administration had been conducting with various rebel groups.[ABC News · Associated Press]
  • The border region surrounding Cucuta is highly contested by rebel groups and drug gangs fighting over illegal smuggling routes into Venezuela.[ABC News · Associated Press]

What remains uncertain

  • The perpetrators of the bombing have not yet been identified or claimed responsibility for the attack.[ABC News · Associated Press]

Sources