Colombia bombing kills 7 a month before election

At least seven people were killed and 17 others were injured Saturday when suspected guerrillas detonated an explosive device on the Pan-American Highway in the southwestern Colombian department of Cauca, authorities said. The attack occurred in a zone called El Túnel in the municipality of Cajibío, where a cylinder loaded with explosives was launched onto a bus traveling through the area, destroying the vehicle and several others while leaving a massive crater in the road. The blast disrupted traffic on the highway, which connects the city of Cali with the regional capital Popayán. Cauca's governor Octavio Guzmán confirmed the explosion was an explosive device and described the incident as "an indiscriminate attack against the civilian population." He called it "a tragedy that tears us apart as a department and deeply mourns our families." The attack comes just over a month before Colombia's presidential election, where public security has become a central issue and candidates from both sides have denounced ongoing threats from armed groups. Separately, an attack targeting a military base in Cali left three people injured after five cylinders were launched from a parked bus and detonated at the installation. The military preliminary attributed that attack to dissidents from the former FARC guerrilla group who rejected the 2016 peace agreement and continue to fuel violence amid stalled peace negotiations with the leftist government of President Gustavo Petro. This was the second attack on the base in less than a year, occurring in a city frequently targeted by armed groups disputing control of drug trafficking routes toward the Pacific coast. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti announced measures including intelligence operations and increased troop deployment in response.