People observe vehicles destroyed by an attack on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, Colombia, on Saturday, an attack but FARC dissidents that has claimed 20 lives. Photo by Ernesto Guzman/EPA
The death toll has hit 20 in a politically motivated attack on a highway in Colombia, as law enforcement has identified and is searching for a suspect.
Colombian Minister of Defense Pedro Sanchez said a man named Ivan Jacob Idrobo Arredondo, who goes by the name “Marlon,” ordered the Saturday morning bomb attack on the Pan-American Highway, The BBC and The Miami Herald reported.
Arredondo is believed to be a former member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, generally referred to as FARC, who is part of a dissident group that broke off the group after it inked peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016.
“Those who carried out the attack … are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said after the bombing.
“I want the strongest possible global action against this narco-terrorist group,” he said. “I want the people of Cauca to be free from this mafia,” he said.
Saturday’s attack on the highway is thought to have been ordered by the dissident group, called Central General Staff EMC that is run by Ivan Mordisco, a former member of FARC.
The highway bombing is the latest in an increasing number of attacks from the group on civilian infrastructure that has been aimed at civilians, according to reports.
“Cauca cannot continue to face this barbarity alone,” Octavio Guzman Gutierrez, governor of the city where the highway is located, said in a statement.
“We call on the national government to take decisive, sustained and effective action in response to the serious public order crisis we are facing,” he said.
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington on April 25, 2026. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
