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ELN claims responsibility for bombing of Colombian police station that killed one
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

ELN claims responsibility for bombing of Colombian police station that killed one

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • The ELN claimed responsibility for a car-bomb attack on a police station in Los Patios, Norte de Santander, that killed one person and injured 11, including two police officers.
  • The guerrilla group said the Aug. 31 attack responded to President Abelardo de la Espriella’s decision to end Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” policy.
  • De la Espriella said his government would confront armed groups with state force and without negotiations.

The National Liberation Army, or ELN, claimed responsibility for the car-bomb attack that set fire to a police station in Los Patios, in Colombia’s northeastern Norte de Santander department. The explosion also burned several motorcycles belonging to officers, killed one person and injured 11 others, including two police officers.

We inform that on Aug. 31, at 11:07 at night, an urban command of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, attacked the police station in the municipality of Los Patios, in Norte de Santander, using a vehicle loaded with explosives.

— ELNThe guerrilla group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

The guerrilla group said the attack took place at 11:07 p.m. on Aug. 31. In a statement, it described the operation as an urban command attack using a vehicle loaded with explosives. The blast wave damaged several commercial premises and homes along Los Patios’ main avenue.

The ELN linked the bombing to President Abelardo de la Espriella’s security policy. It said the new government, which took office on Aug. 7, had closed “all possibility of continuing to seek a political and negotiated solution” to Colombia’s armed conflict by ending the “total peace” policy pursued by Gustavo Petro’s administration.

The true peace is built with the force of arms and the laws of the Republic.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaThe Colombian president defended his security policy after the attack.

De la Espriella has promised a hard-line approach toward illegal armed groups. On Wednesday, he said, “true peace is built with the force of arms and the laws of the Republic,” and pledged to defeat crime without dialogue, “by reason or by force.” Speaking at the opening of a meeting of mayors organized by the Inter-American Development Bank, he added: “To achieve peace, I will not dialogue with terrorism. I am confronting it with the full capacity of the state.”

To achieve peace, I will not dialogue with terrorism. I am confronting it with the full capacity of the state.

— Abelardo de la EspriellaHe spoke at the opening of a meeting of mayors organized by the Inter-American Development Bank.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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