According to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, eight police officers were killed in an explosives attack on a police truck in the country’s southwest on Friday.
Petro posted on Twitter, “I denounce the bomb attack that murdered eight police officers in Huila (Department). These activities clearly imply sabotage of peace.”
According to the authorities, the explosives went off as the police car transporting the aforementioned policemen was passing, according to local station BLU Radio. Although the perpetrators of the assaults are yet unknown, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army, a guerrilla organisation, is said to be active in the area according to local media.
Earlier on August 7, Petro, 62, took the presidential oath and was sworn in during a ceremony in Bogota, the nation’s capital. He is the first communist leader in Colombia’s modern history and a former guerilla and mayor of Bogota. He has pledged to address the issue of poverty, transfer the tax burden to more affluent inhabitants, start talks with guerrilla combatants, and more. Representatives of the National Liberation Army, a guerrilla organisation participating in the ongoing battle in Colombia, have begun negotiations with Petro’s administration in Cuba.
The largest drug cartel in Colombia, the Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo, also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), declared a unilateral cessation of offensive hostilities following Petro’s inauguration as a show of goodwill toward the new administration and a commitment to participate in the peace process.
