8 police officers killed in an explosion in southwestern Colombia

• Colombia’s President says eight police officers were killed.
• It is the most significant assault on public security personnel.
• The ELN, the last rebel organisation still active in Colombia, has resumed communication with Petro.

According to President Gustavo Petro, eight police officers were killed by an explosives attack on Friday in southwest Colombia.

“I strongly reject the attack with explosives where eight police died,” said Petro on Twitter, adding “solidarity with their families.”

In the department of Huila, the attack happened in a rural region.

“It was an attack against a police patrol … it seems as though it was with explosives and they were killed with firearms,” a spokesperson for the regional police told AFP.

Nobody has been singled out for blame by the authorities.

Since former guerrilla leader Petro became Colombia’s first Marxist president at the beginning of last month, it is the most significant assault on public security personnel.

The National Liberation Army (ELN), commonly regarded as the last rebel organisation still active in Colombia, has resumed communication with Petro.

Following a car bomb attack on a police academy in Bogota in 2019 that left 22 people dead, his conservative predecessor, Ivan Duque, halted peace negotiations.

Along with dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who put down their weapons and agreed to a peace agreement in 2016, Petro has also advocated a “multilateral” ceasefire.

To put a stop to the struggle, which has lasted for six decades and also involves drug traffickers, the president has advocated for “total peace.”

Some traffickers and rebel groups connected to the potent Gulf Clan have expressed interest in joining the ceasefire.

“These actions demonstrate a clear sabotage of the total peace,” said Petro.

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