Bomb death toll rises to 21
THE death toll rose to 21 following a car bombing at a police academy in Colombia on Thursday, local media reported yesterday, as the country’s President Ivan Duque pledged to step up border controls and security on access roads to cities.
A total of 68 people were also injured in the attack, according to news reports.
The attack “against our youth, our freedom” will not go unpunished, Duque vowed in a televised address announcing three days of mourning.
The driver of the van loaded with about 88kg of explosives has been identified as a 57-year-old who is suspected of having links with the leftist guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN).
“We shall not rest until the rest of the terrorists involved have been brought to justice,” Duque said.
The terrorists planned the attack three months in advance and timed it to coincide with a ceremony for cadets at the General Santander police academy in the south of the capital, Bogota, broadcaster Caracol reported.
Attorney-general Nestor Humberto Martinez identified the bomber as Jose Aldemar Rojas Rodriguez.
He had a terminal illness and was paid by terrorists to carry out the attack, Caracol quoted intelligence sources as saying.
The bomber was believed to have been a former member of ELN, the broadcaster said.
A sniffer dog detected explosives as the van was entering the academy premises, after which the driver forced entry into the area and drove into three soldiers who tried to stop him. The vehicle then blew up.
The attacker was reportedly killed in the explosion.
The attack was the deadliest in a series of attacks in the South American country in recent years. | dpa African News Agency (ANA)