Additional Coverage:
Colombia Reels from Deadly Attacks on Helicopter and Air Base
Colombia was struck by two devastating attacks on Thursday, leaving at least 14 dead and dozens injured. Authorities are calling both incidents acts of terrorism, though it remains unclear whether they are connected.
In the rural area of Amalfi, Antioquia, a police helicopter supporting illicit crop eradication efforts was downed by a drone attack. Antioquia Governor Andrés Julián Rendón confirmed the incident and shared a video appearing to show the helicopter’s crash.
Two officers were injured in the attack, which Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez attributed to the 36th Front of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), a dissident group of the former FARC guerrillas. While President Gustavo Petro initially suggested the Gulf Clan might be responsible, he later echoed the Defense Minister’s assessment blaming the EMC.
National Police Director Carlos Fernando Triana Beltrán labeled the helicopter downing a “terrorist act.”
Adding to the day’s violence, a car bomb exploded near the Marco Fidel Suárez military air base in Cali. The blast claimed the lives of at least six people and injured 50 others, according to the local health secretariat.
The Colombian Aerospace Force also deemed this incident a terrorist attack. Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder confirmed emergency services were responding to the casualties and announced a reward of nearly $100,000 for information leading to the perpetrators.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing.
These attacks follow a wave of violence in June that left seven dead and 28 injured in Cali and surrounding towns. Authorities linked those attacks to the 2022 death of a local FARC dissident leader.