Two Colombian motorway bombings leave one soldier dead and 16 others injured

# Two Colombian motorway bombings leave one soldier dead and 16 others injured

A motorcycle bomb attack in Jamundí and a separate explosive alert later the same day left one soldier dead and 16 other people injured on the event date, according to the supplied Infobae report. The attack hit a busy road in the El Jordán neighborhood of Jamundí, in Colombia's Valle del Cauca department, while authorities later carried out a controlled detonation of another device near Alfaguara.

The report said the first explosion came from a mototriciclo packed with explosives that went off around 6:52 a.m. on a main road used by pedestrians, motorcycles, cars, buses, and bicycles. It said a uniformed officer riding in a vehicle at the scene suffered minor injuries and was stunned by the blast, while around 15 residents were affected by the shock wave. The article attributed the attack to the Jaime Martínez front of dissident FARC factions, though that attribution should be read as a reported accusation rather than an independently verified finding in the excerpt.

Later in the day, authorities said a suspicious package was found on a roundabout along the Alfaguara road near a major shopping center. According to the report, the area was cordoned off after a tip from the public and the device was detonated in a controlled manner, preventing what officials said could have been another tragedy.

The incident prompted a local security council led by the mayor, the Valle del Cauca governor's office, police, prosecutors, and the army. Officials announced a 50 million peso reward for information leading to arrests and published a phone line for anonymous tips. Those measures show how quickly the situation in Jamundí escalated from an attack scene into an active security emergency.

The article also said the army commander for the Third Brigade pledged intensified intelligence and offensive operations across Jamundí's 19 rural districts. That response reflects the pressure on local authorities in a municipality that has seen repeated explosive incidents.

Because the supplied source is a single local report, the casualty figures and the attribution to a specific armed front should be treated cautiously. Still, the core facts are consistent: an explosive attack wounded civilians and a soldier in Jamundí, and authorities later neutralized another suspected device nearby.

For residents, the effect was immediate. Normal movement along one of the area's busiest corridors was interrupted by a blast in the morning, followed by heightened caution and a second emergency response later the same day. That combination left the municipality dealing with both casualties and the fear of a follow-up attack.

Event date: 2024-11-09.