Seven police officers were killed on Friday when explosives ambushed a police patrol in a rural area in southwestern Colombia, authorities said.
According to a statement from the Colombian National Police, the incident occurred while the police were advancing towards the province of San Luis in the city of Palermo, and he was injured by the impact of the explosion.
Initially, Colombian President Gustavo Petro reported that eight people were killed in the incident, but the information was corrected by police officials.
Also, according to the National Police, the company’s chief executive went to the scene to lead “highest priority” investigative activities, along with the criminal investigation and police intelligence departments. The Public Ministry is also participating in the investigations.
“All operational deployment in the region is geared towards finding, apprehending and bringing to justice the material and intellectual perpetrators of crime, so they face the full weight of the Citizen Security Act,” the company says.
A brother of police assistant Gustavo Alberto Esquivel Rojas said in an interview with Radio Caracol’s night program that his relative was “the only survivor of the attack”.
‘Sabotaging the peace’
In a post on Twitter, Petro stated that the attack on the police “clearly sabotages the total peace”. The Colombian president arrived at the site last night to meet with the police chief in anticipation of “urgent decisions”.
Defense Minister Iván Velásquez urged the Armed Forces to “respond by force to this attack on peace”.
Carlos Ruiz, the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy in Colombia, also wanted to “continue to insist on peace efforts”.
*with information from AFP
source: Noticias
