The mayor’s office of the municipality of Rioblanco, in the department of Tolima, central Colombia, was attacked this Sunday with drones and gunfire, although without casualties, according to governor Adriana Matiz who reported through social media.
“At this moment, the urgent thing is to protect life. That is why we call on the authorities to adopt immediate security measures, reinforce the presence of the Public Force, and consider a curfew while the situation is controlled,” Matiz stated on her X account.
The authority also emphasized in her post that the attack caused “deep concern” among the population and pointed to illegal armed groups as responsible, since dissident FARC groups operate in that area, as reported by EFE.
Similarly, she assured that “the criminals intend to sow fear and disturb the peace of the inhabitants, but we will not allow their actions to subjugate the citizens”.
The governor also posted a video showing smoke coming from one of the facades of the mayor’s office, while in others some shots can be heard in the air.
“Rioblanco needs at this moment all institutional capacity to restore peace and guarantee the security of its inhabitants,” Matiz said.
A little later, the Fifth Division of the Colombian Army confirmed that the Ismael Ruiz Front, belonging to the FARC dissident groups, was responsible for the terrorist attack against the civilian population in the municipality of Rioblanco.
“Troops from the General Domingo Caicedo Infantry Battalion No. 17 of the Sixth Brigade fired several shots to neutralize the intentions of the drones,” the military body reported on social media
Additionally, it pointed out that the attack used explosive devices launched from drones, which constitutes a “serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.”
The incident reported in Rioblanco adds to the escalation of violence and explosive attacks that began this Saturday in various parts of Colombia and left one police officer dead, just one day after Abelardo de la Espriella took office as the new president of the country.
As reported by EFE, the Ombudsman’s Office this morning called to prevent such attacks and detailed that between Friday and Saturday there were “attacks, harassment, and incidents related to explosive devices.”
The agency specified that these occurred in the departments of Cauca, Nariño, Cesar, Antioquia, Tolima, Huila, Arauca, Caldas, Bolívar, Meta, and Guaviare.
The most serious took place in San Roque, where the local Police Substation was attacked with explosives launched from drones, which caused the death of Sub-Inspector Argemiro Rodelo Canchila, due to injuries caused by an explosion.
During this Sunday, combat was also reported between the Army and FARC dissidents that extended to several points in southern Tolima, as reported by the newspaper El Mundo.
In the Las Palomas sector, within the jurisdiction of Rioblanco, clashes were recorded between troops and members of the armed structure, as well as fighting in San Antonio, Planadas, and the rural area of Ataco.
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