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Colombia[n] car bomb kills 6
At least six people were killed and at least 15 were wounded in an apparent vehicle bomb detonated Wednesday in downtown Bogota, Colombia, the cityâs mayor said. The dead were two police officers, a homeless person, a street vendor and two other civilians, police said. Authorities believe a jeep packed with explosives went off in a commercial area that has a reputation for being a haven for smuggled goods. They believe the explosives were a fertilizer and fuel oil mixture. There have been no claims of responsibility. The explosion went off when a patrol came by after someone put in a call to alert police that a car was abandoned there, police said.Note to Colombian policemen: donât take calls about abandoned cars. Colombia has faced decades of civil warfare, involving the government, leftist rebels and a right-wing paramilitary group. The right-wing paramilitary forces have had a traditional presence in the commercial district for years, blackmailing traders in return for protection. One of the offices they operated from was raided last week. The incident [the car boom] took place on a day known by revolutionaries as the International Day of the Guerrilla, LOL! the day the world commemorates the death of revolutionary Che Guevara years ago during combat in Bolivia. Leftist rebels fighting in Colombiaâs civil war have increasingly been bringing the war to the nationâs cities. An explosion last month in Florencia killed 10 people and wounded 54 others, police said. The right-wing paramilitary forces that control that city said the attack bore the hallmarks of FARC, their rival. In February, the bombing of a Bogota social club killed 32 people and wounded 200. And in August, 2002, a mortar attack on the presidential palace in Bogota killed at least 13. Note to the Colombian president: stay away from the presidential palace. Police said FARC likely was to blame in both incidents. Established in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party, 16,000-member FARC is Colombiaâs oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped Marxist rebel group, according to the U.S. Department of State. It is classified by the State Department as a terrorist group that conducts bombings, murder, kidnappings and hijackings. If the US invaded Colombia, would it be about the cocaine?? Posted by: Rafael 2003-10-08 |
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