Several soldiers were injured in Colombia on Friday afternoon in the explosion of a truck with explosives near a military base in the department of Arauca, on the border with Venezuela, in what Colombian President Gustavo Petro described as a “reprehensible” attack.
Petro confirmed the explosion in a message via Twitter, which did not specify the number of injured or whether it could be ruled out that there were deaths.
According to information from local media, the explosion occurred around five in the afternoon in the vicinity of the Naranjitos military base, located in the municipality of Tame, in Arauca, on the northern border of the country.
Among the first hypotheses is that the truck loaded with explosives was seeking to attack the military located at that base, but that it would have exploded prematurely and its two occupants would have died.
The guerrilla Army of National Liberation (ELN) has a strong presence in the area, with which the government of President Petro is developing a peace process. However, so far no illegal group has claimed responsibility.
The Colombian president also reported that he had asked the Minister of Defense, Iván Velásquez, to go to the department of Arauca, the place of the tragedy, to “personally” attend to the situation.
“We will not tolerate more events that cause anxiety to the population,” Petro said in his message on Twitter.
