A motorcycle loaded with explosives detonated in Colombia and killed 1, injured 14

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A motorcycle loaded with explosives detonated at a police checkpoint in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, killing the driver and injuring 14 others, authorities said.

Officers had been conducting inspections in the community of Las Penas in the Jamundi municipality to prevent possible violence by illegal armed groups, commander of the Cali Metropolitan Police Col. Carlos Oviedo told journalists.

The driver “became scared” and detonated the explosives after being called to the checkpoint, Oviedo said, killing himself and injuring seven civilians and seven police officers. One of the officers has a “reserved prognosis,” he added.

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Criminal groups consider Jamundi strategic because of its plantations of coca leaf, which is transformed into cocaine, and because it is connected to the port of Buenaventura.

The organized crime group Jaime Martinez is active in the area. It is composed of dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC, that did not accept the 2016 peace deal with the state.

Attacks with explosives against military and police officers, which authorities attribute to illegal armed groups, have continued despite efforts by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to negotiate peace deals with the irregular armies under a strategy known as total peace.

The Ombudsman’s office expressed concern over growing violence in Jamundi and urged authorities to guarantee the protection and security of citizens.