Deaths as blast hits police patrol in Colombia

Police vehicle comes under attack in southwestern Huila department, leaving eight personnel dead, officials say.

Colombia's conflict between the government, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug trafficking gangs killed at least 450,000 people between 1985 and 2018 alone.
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Colombia's conflict between the government, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug trafficking gangs killed at least 450,000 people between 1985 and 2018 alone.

An attack using explosives in southwestern Colombia has killed eight police officers.

"I strongly reject the attack with explosives where eight police died," said President Gustavo Petro on Friday, expressing "solidarity with their families."

The attack took place in a rural area in the Huila department.

"It was an attack against a police patrol ... it seems as though it was with explosives and they were killed with firearms," a spokesperson for the regional police told the AFP news agency.

Authorities have not yet pointed the finger of blame at anyone but so-called dissidents from the now-demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels operate in the area according to security sources.

Dissident groups reject the peace accord negotiated by their former leadership and count some 2,400 fighters in their ranks, according to the government.

Several well-known dissident commanders have been killed recently, many in fighting across the border in Venezuela.

Police sources said the officials were killed when the vehicle in which they were travelling was hit with explosives.

It is the most serious attack on public security forces since former guerrilla Petro assumed power in early August, becoming Colombia's first leftist president.

Petro's new left-wing government has focused on changing the tactics used by the military, demanding that they show more respect for human rights and act in defence of peace.

READ MORE: Colombia's Petro proposes 'bilateral ceasefire' to ELN guerrillas

'Sabotage of total peace'

Petro has reopened dialogue with the National Liberation Army, which is widely recognised as the last organised guerrilla group operating in the South American country.

His predecessor, the conservative Ivan Duque, had broken off peace talks following a 2019 car bomb attack on a police academy in Bogota that left 22 people dead.

Petro has also proposed a "multilateral" ceasefire with dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that laid down arms and signed a peace deal in 2016.

The president has sought a "total peace" policy in a bid to end the conflict.

And he has also proposed the "peaceful dismantling" of other organisations such as the Clan del Golfo, the country's largest drug cartel, which has announced its willingness to coordinate a ceasefire to negotiate its disarmament.

"These actions demonstrate a clear sabotage of the total peace," said Petro of the attack on Friday.

The UN special representative in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz, also condemned the attack and called to "continue insisting on the efforts around peace".

Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez called on the armed forces to "respond forcefully to this attack on peace."

Colombia's conflict between the government, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug trafficking gangs killed at least 450,000 people between 1985 and 2018 alone.

READ MORE: Colombia's largest remaining rebel force, government to restart peace talks

READ MORE: Colombia's ELN rebels pitch for peace talks with new Petro govt

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