Colombia explosives attack kills 13, police source says

The FARC guerrilla group was blamed for the deadly attacks in Cauca province

At least 13 people were killed and 17 wounded in an explosives ​attack in western Colombia on Saturday, a police ‌source told Reuters, in violence authorities have blamed on dissidents of the FARC guerrilla group.

The attack took place on the Pan-American ​Highway in the El Tunel area of Cajibio ​municipality, about 35 km (22 miles) from Popayan, the capital ⁠of Cauca province, according to authorities.

Cauca Governor Octavio ​Guzman said on X the attack was one of several ​criminal actions reported in the province on Saturday.

Fue activado un artefacto explosivo en la vía Panamericana, en el sector de El Túnel, Cajibío, en un ataque indiscriminado contra la población civil que, de manera preliminar, deja 7 civiles muertos y más de 20 heridos de gravedad. Es una tragedia que nos desgarra como… pic.twitter.com/4BQ0r6CnUc

— OCTAVIO GUZMÁN (@OctavioGuzmanGu) April 25, 2026

Read More: Clashes in Colombia between guerrilla groups leave 27 dead, sources say

"Cauca cannot continue to face this barbarity alone. We are facing a terrorist escalation that ​demands immediate responses. We demand forceful, sustained and effective ​action from the national government in the face of the grave ‌public ⁠order crisis we are experiencing," he added.

Presidential candidate Paloma Valencia, a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party who is from Cauca, called the attack "terrorism" carried out ​by the dissident ​FARC faction, ⁠which rejected a 2016 peace deal.

"President Gustavo Petro's government cannot continue minimizing the violence ​or dismantling the state," she said. "We demand ​immediate action, ⁠full backing for our Armed Forces and police, and concrete results."

Petro, a former rebel himself whose term as president ⁠is ​nearing an end, has pursued a "total ​peace" policy with guerrillas through negotiations and intermittent ceasefires.