Death toll in Colombia highway attack rises to 19

The attack is the deadliest in weeks, occurring right before presidential elections

The death toll from an explosives attack on a highway in southwestern Colombia rose to 19 on Sunday, authorities said, as the government blamed a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrilla group for the bombing.

The blast on the Pan-American Highway in the Cajibio municipality also injured 38 people, including five minors, and destroyed dozens of vehicles on the road linking Popayan and Cali.

Why It Matters

• The attack was the deadliest in recent weeks and came ahead of presidential elections.

• Rebels detonated a powerful explosive device planted on the highway, leaving a crater, military and police authorities said.

• Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez blamed the Estado Mayor Central, a FARC dissident faction that rejected a 2016 peace deal.

• Between Friday and Saturday, 26 attacks occurred in Cauca and Valle areas, including two car bomb attacks on military installations in Cali and Palmira.

• Cauca is a strategic region for cocaine production and trafficking, as well as illegal gold mining, both key funding sources for armed groups.

• 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.