Colombia: Airport Explosions Kill 2 Police Officers, 1 Civilian

On Tuesday, two policemen and a civilian died as a result of the explosion of two improvised explosive device (IED) at the Camilo Daza International Airport in Cucuta City.

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Norte de Santander Governor Silvano Serrano said that an unidentified citizen carrying those IEDs tried to scale the airport's fence when one of the devices exploded and killed him.

Minutes later, two police explosives experts who were inspecting the area found a suitcase. As they approached it, the second IED detonated and killed them, as explained by Colonel Giovanni Madariaga.

President Ivan Duque said that the Police and the Army are coordinating their actions to find those responsible for this attack. Due to the explosions, the Civil Aeronautics authorities suspended operations at the Cucuta airport, which is near the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

Since the beginning of the year, at least four military attacks have shaken this border region, where the National Liberation Army (ELN), former guerrillas who did not adhere to the 2016 Peace Agreement, and other armed groups related to drug cultivation and trafficking operate.

One of those attacks occurred on June 25 when President Duque's helicopter was approaching the Cucuta airport. On that occasion, neither he nor his companions were injured by rifle shots.

Although there is still no verified information about what happened on Tuesday morning, the Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano was quick to suggest that the terrorist attack on the airport was intended to destabilize the Duque regime.