Colombia implements operation to stop wave of violence that left 19 dead

Colombia's defense minister announced Friday an intelligence operation in the southwest of the country to subdue guerrillas responsible for a deadly truck bomb attack amid the worst violence in a decade.

On Friday, Minister Pedro Sánchez toured the area surrounding a military aviation school where at least six civilians died and more than 60 were injured the day before in a truck bomb explosion in Cali (southwest), the country's third most populous city.

Sánchez announced Operation Sultana there, about which he gave few details, to protect this region "from terrorism and crime."

Chaos erupted in Cali on Thursday. José Burbano was walking near the military base when "all of a sudden, something extremely strong exploded and everyone fell to the ground," he told AFP.

According to the minister, Operation Sultana will strengthen an elite unit in the southwest of the country tasked with locating and capturing high-value targets.

"The search force will be further strengthened with technological and intelligence capabilities," he said, referring to a unit of 700 elite police officers, similar to the squads that pursued notorious drug traffickers like Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.

"Despair"

A few hours before the attack in Cali , guerrillas in Antioquia (northwest) killed 13 police officers when they shot down a helicopter with a drone and rifle attack. The officers were on a mission to eradicate coca leaf crops.

Authorities attribute the attacks to two FARC dissident groups, at odds with each other, who rejected the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the main body of the guerrilla group.

Sánchez said that in five areas where these groups operate, extortion, murders, and child recruitment have decreased. This "has driven them to a desperate attempt to attack with the most criminal and insane weapon that exists, which is terrorism," he asserted.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, present at a summit in Bogotá this Friday, expressed his condolences. "Our hearts go out to the victims of the attacks," he said.

"Intelligence failure"

"We are facing an international mafia, with armed gangs here," said President Gustavo Petro after a meeting with the military leadership in Cali around midnight on Thursday.

Colombia's leftist leader is facing increasing criticism for the rising violence and his strategy of prioritizing dialogue with armed groups rather than declaring all-out war on them.

The mayor of Cali acknowledged on Blu Radio "an intelligence failure that must be corrected."

At the site of the attack, there was another truck loaded with explosives that didn't explode; otherwise, "the situation would have been infinitely worse," added Alejandro Eder.

The prosecutor's office confirmed that two people have been arrested in connection with this attack. One of them was beaten and "captured by the community at the scene," Petro said.

Known by the alias "Sebastián," authorities identify him as a member of the largest dissident group of the defunct FARC, the Central General Staff (EMC), under the command of alias Iván Mordisco.

Pre-election "anxiety"

The 2016 peace agreement with the FARC brought relative calm to the country after decades of armed conflict that left more than a million dead.

But it also left a power vacuum in the territories exploited by dissident guerrilla groups, paramilitaries, and cartels that profit from drug trafficking, extortion, and illegal mining.

Dissidents have been singled out for dozens of recent attacks, including the assassination of right-wing senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay. The assassination revives the ghosts of political violence in the 1980s and 1990s, when four presidential candidates were assassinated.

Miguel Uribe Londoño, 79, father of the assassinated presidential candidate, announced this Friday that he will be a right-wing candidate in an election that is expected to be dominated by security proposals.

Today, the guerrillas "are seeking to put the national government on the ropes and generate an atmosphere of anxiety that has much to do with the 2026 elections," said Laura Bonilla, deputy director of the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation.

In May 2026, Colombia will elect a replacement for Petro, who by law cannot be re-elected.

During his tenure, cocaine production in Colombia has reached record levels, according to the UN.