At least 14 people were killed and 38 wounded in an explosives attack in western Colombia on Saturday (April 25), in violence authorities have blamed on dissidents of the FARC guerrilla group.

The attack took place on the Pan-American Highway in the El Tunel area of Cajibio municipality, about 35 km (22 miles) from Popayan, the capital of Cauca province, according to authorities.

Cauca Governor Octavio Guzman said on X the attack was one of several criminal actions reported in the province on Saturday, later confirming in a subsequent post that the death toll had risen to 14 and the number of wounded to 38.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former rebel himself whose term as president is nearing an end, has pursued a "total peace" policy with guerrillas through negotiations and intermittent ceasefires.

The violence came a day after a separate attack in Cali, where the Colombian Army said FARC dissidents loyal to alias "Ivan Mordisco" abandoned a bus loaded with cylinder-type explosives near the Canton Pichincha military base on Friday (April 24).

Cali's municipal oversight body said two cylinders were launched into the Pichincha Battalion but did not explode and no injuries were reported, though the vehicle caught fire during the incident.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

CAJIBIO, CAUCA, COLOMBIA (APRIL 25, 2026) (RCN TV - No use Colombia / CNN / Univision / Telemundo / City TV Colombia)

1. PASSENGER BUSES DAMAGED BY EXPLOSION ON THE PAN-AMERICAN HIGHWAY

2. VARIOUS OF INJURED PEOPLE BEING MOVED ON STRETCHERS

3. VEHICLES DESTROYED BY EXPLOSION

4. VARIOUS OF VEHICLES OVERTURNED BY EXPLOSION AND PEOPLE AT SCENE

5. PASSENGER BUS DAMAGED BY EXPLOSION

6. EMERGENCY WORKERS MOVING INJURED PERSON

PALMIRA, COLOMBIA (APRIL 25, 2026) (COLOMBIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE - Access All)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER, PEDRO SANCHEZ, SAYING:

"The terrorist attacks are a cowardly show of weakness by a criminal organisation whose main leader is a dangerous criminal, known by the alias ‘Marlon.’ Because of this terrorist, and the serious harm he is doing to Colombia and its people, his bounty is being raised to 5,000 million pesos (1.4 million dollars)."

CAJIBIO, CAUCA, COLOMBIA (APRIL 25, 2026) (RCN TV - No use Colombia / CNN / Univision / Telemundo / City TV Colombia)

8. TRUCK WITH FARC-EP GUERRILLA GRAFFITI ON IT

9. VARIOUS OF PASSENGER VEHICLES DAMAGED BY EXPLOSION

10. EMERGENCY WORKER CORDONING OFF AREA

11. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED VEHICLES

12. TRUCK WITH FARC-EP GUERRILLA GRAFFITI SEEN IN MIDDLE OF ROAD

13. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AT EXPLOSION SITE

PALMIRA, COLOMBIA (APRIL 25, 2026) (RCN TV - No use Colombia / CNN / Telemundo / City TV Colombia/ Univision)

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MAYOR OF CALI, ALEJANDRO EDER, SAYING:

"The most important thing today is to capture the terrorist, the coward who drove that minibus and parked it not only next to the battalion but next to a hospital. That terrorist is a murderer."

CALI, COLOMBIA (APRIL 24, 2026) (RCN TV - No use Colombia / CNN / Telemundo / City TV Colombia/ Univision)

15. BUS IN FLAMES

16. PEOPLE WATCHING BURNING MINIBUS

17. SOLDIERS CLEARING AREA

18. POLICE VEHICLE AT SCENE

19. BURNT BUS ALLEGEDLY USED TO CARRY EXPLOSIVES

20. VARIOUS OF ALLEGED CYLINDERS USED TO LAUNCH EXPLOSIVES INSIDE MINIBUS

21. EXTERIOR OF MILITARY BASE

INTERNET (APRIL 25, 2026) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE – Access all) (MUTE)

22. SCREENSHOT IN MOTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA POST FROM COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT GUSTAVO PETRO READING (Spanish):

“What is terrorism? It is producing mass fear in the population through violence. Fear is the instrument of fascism to seize power and of drug traffickers to control the population. Those who attacked and killed seven civilians and wounded 17 more in Cajibio, many of them indigenous, are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers. Their leader goes by the alias Marlon, fully identified by police and military intelligence. The fronts of alias Ivan Mordisco in Cauca are criminal offenders against humanity and must be treated as such. They want the far right — fascism — to govern Colombia because they know that under them they can conduct their cocaine and illicit gold business. I want the maximum global pursuit against this narco-terrorist group. I want the financial intelligence unit on top of their finances, I want the best soldiers to confront them, I want the people of Cauca to be free from this mafia, the dregs of violence. I want to sign the long-delayed indictment, to denounce their leaders by name before the International Criminal Court.”

23. SCREENSHOT IN MOTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA POST FROM CAUCA GOVERNOR OCTAVIO GUZMAN READING (Spanish):

“An explosive device was activated on the Pan-American Highway, in the El Tunel sector of Cajibio, in an indiscriminate attack against the civilian population that, preliminarily, has left 7 civilians dead and more than 20 seriously wounded. It is a tragedy that tears us apart as a department and plunges our families into deep mourning. There are no words sufficient for the pain we feel today. Cauca cannot continue facing this barbarity alone. We are witnessing a terrorist escalation that demands immediate responses. We demand from the National Government decisive, sustained and effective action in the face of the serious public order crisis we are experiencing, as well as the urgent presence of the Ministry of Defence from Cauca. As the Departmental Government, we are responding to the emergency with our full institutional capacity. Our hospital network is stretched to its limit, the Pan-American Highway remains in uncertainty, and our Security Forces remain at the forefront of the situation, confronting this criminal onslaught. In recent hours, actions have been registered in El Tunel, El Tambo, Caloto, Popayán, Guachene, Mercaderes and Miranda. This is a direct offensive against life, against a defenceless people. We will not allow the violent to continue imposing fear and defying the State. We are acting and addressing this situation with our full capacity. We have immediately convened a security council and we issue an urgent call for greater presence, real support and firm decisions from the national level to guarantee the lives and safety of the people of Cauca.”