Death toll in Colombia car bombing rises to 21
BOGOTA (COLUMBIA), JAN18,2019- Bogota (dpa) – The Colombian government has blamed leftist rebels in the National Liberation Army (ELN) for a car bombing in Bogota that killed 21 people on Thursday, with Attorney General Nestor Humberto Martinez saying ELN members would be charged with organizing the attack.
Jose Aldemar Rojas Rodriguez, the man who drove a van charged with explosives onto the premises of a police academy in the capital on Thursday, belonged to the ELN, Martinez and Defence Minister Guillermo Botero said on Friday at a press conference.
Rojas was killed in Thursday’s explosion. Police have arrested another man, Ricardo Andres Carvajal, who has confessed to helping Rojas organize the attack, Martinez said.
Rojas forced entry into the police academy premises, Botero said, denying reports that his vehicle had been inspected by a sniffer dog.
A security guard tried to stop him, but he reversed, and the vehicle blew up in front of a dormitory of female students.
The attack killed 21 and injured 68 people.