Five people have died and 65 were wounded when a grenade exploded during a New Years party in a remote region of northern Colombia. The explosion at the party, attended by local indigenous groups, was not an attack on the community, army general Luis Paredes told reporters. Apparently someone attending the event was carrying the grenade, which could have exploded accidently, he added.
The region's governor Jaime Arias, however, expressed suspicion of the army's account.
In the past, the United Nations has expressed concern over "systematic and widespread" killings of civilians by Colombia's US-backed security forces.
| There's a gratuitous snipe courtesy of presstv.ir Iran, where they know a thing or two about systematic and widespread killings of civilians ... |