Colombia arrests 8 in mall bomb probe

Three people were killed and eight wounded when explosive detonated

Eight people from a littleknown urban guerrilla group have been arrested in connection with a bombing last week at an upscale mall in the Colombian capital Bogota, the police said on Saturday.

Three people were killed and eight wounded when an explosive detonated in a women’s rest room at the Andino shopping centre on June 17.

Four men and four women, members of The People’s Revolutionary Movement (MRP) rebel group, were captured — half in Bogota and half in El Espinal in Tolima province, national police director Jorge Nieto told journalists. Those arrested will be arraigned on charges including homicide and terrorism, he said.

The MRP, who have only been publicly known since late 2015, are being investigated for involvement in another 14 attacks, Nieto said.

“The interdisciplinary team continues with the investigation to clarify the different terrorist actions and individualise and identify both the material and intellectual perpetrators of these acts,” Nieto said.

French volunteer killed

The device, placed behind a toilet bowl, went off last Saturday afternoon amid busy Father’s Day weekend shopping.

Fatal victims of the bombing were 23-year-old French woman Julie Huynh, who had been volunteering in a poor area of the city, and Colombian citizens Ana Maria Gutierrez, 27, and Lady Paola Jaimes Ovalle, 31.