Aerial view after a toll plaza was attacked in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca department, Colombia, on August 8, 2026. (Photo by JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP)
Santander de Quilichao, Colombia: Two bombing attacks in different parts of Colombia on Saturday marked the first day in office for new President Abelardo de la Espriella, leaving at least one police officer dead and several wounded.
The tough-talking leader campaigned on confronting "narcoterrorism without truce" and ending peace talks with armed groups following his inauguration Friday in the southwestern city of Cali.
Colombia's army said FARC guerilla dissidents used explosives to destroy a highway tollbooth near Cali in the early hours of Saturday, with two security guards suffering minor injuries.
De la Espriella condemned the bombing on social media Saturday, saying "attacking the country's infrastructure is attacking progress" in an X post.
"To those responsible, I send a clear message: there will be no refuge, no leniency and no impunity," he added.
Will not go unpunished
About 1,000 kilometers away, in the northern department of Cesar, an officer was killed in another bombing early Saturday when an explosive-equipped drone struck a police station, officials there said.
Authorities there have not yet identified suspects, but De la Espriella vowed whoever is responsible "will not go unpunished."
Roberto Sandoval, a firefighter who lives in the neighborhood next to the tollbooth, told AFP tensions were high following the bombing.
"We are all on edge, very tense and nervous."
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, windows shattered and left glass strewn on the bed of Sonia Zapata, a 68-year-old housewife.
She said she feels "very nervous, very afraid."
