Baby among four killed in bomb attack in western Colombia, official says
It is not yet clear who was behind the attack, which appears to have targeted a military base.
Baby among four killed in bomb attack in western Colombia, official says
Several buildings were damaged by the explosion, including a pharmacy and a hospital
At least four people were killed on Sunday when a lorry carrying explosives blew up in Tolima province in western Colombia, a local official said.
Among the dead was a two-month-old baby girl, Tolima governor Adriana Magali Matiz wrote in a post on X.
The lorry exploded close to a military base in the town of Planadas, damaging a nearby hospital and several other buildings.
It is still unclear who carried out the bombing, but armed criminal groups have recently intensified attacks on the security forces in what appears to be retaliation for an offensive ordered against them by the new right-wing President, Abelardo de la Espriella.
De la Espriella took office in August after running on a tough-on-crime platform.
Within less than a month, he had ended peace talks with some of Colombia's illegal armed groups, negotiations that had begun under his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro.
"In my government, criminal will have no political status, no leniency, and no impunity," de la Espriella wrote in a post on social media at the time
At the beginning of his presidency, Petro had promoted a "total peace strategy", saying that only negotiations could bring an end to the violence carried out by Colombia's many armed groups.
But after repeated violations of the negotiation terms, Petro suspended some of the peace talks.
De la Espriella has gone further, widening his crackdown on all of the country's illegal groups, including bombing their camps.
In response, these groups have stepped up their attacks on the security forces.
On Saturday, a police officer was killed and another six were injured when a motorcycle packed with explosives was detonated in southern Huila province.
President de la Espriella called it "a cowardly terrorist attack".
There have also been several incidents in which illegal groups have used drones - rather than cars or motorcycles - to carry the explosives.
In one such attack, carried out on 23 October, a marine infantryman was killed and four were injured aboard a Navy boat in Cauca province.