A suspected remotely detonated explosive device ripped open vehicles on the Pan-American Highway in Cauca

A massive roadside blast tore through a bus and other vehicles on Colombia's Pan-American Highway on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and leaving more than a dozen others wounded in what authorities called a terrorist attack.

The explosion struck the El Tunel sector in Cajibio, Cauca, blowing a huge crater into one of the country's most important transport corridors and scattering wreckage across the road.

Videos from the scene show a bus completely torn apart, with its engine propelled with such force that it landed on another bus, while multiple other vehicles traveling along the same road at the time were also damaged.

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Early official statements put the toll at seven dead and at least 17 injured, but later reporting said several of the wounded died from their injuries, pushing the death toll to 12, mostly local civilians and Indigenous people traveling on the bus.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro blamed the attack on dissident factions of the former FARC guerrilla movement operating under Ivan Mordisco. In a post on X, Petro called the perpetrators "terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers," demanding a worldwide manhunt against what he described as a narcoterrorist structure.

The bombing came amid at least 26 incidents in just two days across Colombia's southwest, including attacks on police stations, military units, radar facilities, and infrastructure.

Petro and regional officials described the violence as part of a wider escalation in Cauca, a department long contested by armed groups fighting over cocaine routes, illegal mining, and territorial control.

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Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez convened emergency security meetings and announced a reward for information leading to those responsible. Local leaders condemned the bombing as an indiscriminate strike on civilians designed to spread mass fear ahead of Colombia's May 31 presidential election.

(RT.com)