Rebels set off a car bomb outside toll booth as fighting intensifies in Colombia’s Cauca region

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A car bomb exploded at a toll booth in southwestern Colombia Monday, injuring at least three civilians, the army said, as fighting between the military and rebel groups intensified in the region.

The military blamed the attack near the town of El Bordo in Cauca department on the Carlos Patiño front, a group led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, who did not join a 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government.

“I deplore this terrorist attack…along the Panamerican highway,” Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said on X. “Attacking infrastructure harms people, truck drivers and all of those who need to travel.”

The same group clashed with soldiers Friday in the municipality of Timbio, killing a sergeant, according to the army.

On Saturday, a drone attack against a military patrol also killed a soldier in La Vega, also in Cauca. The army blamed that attack on another group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN.

Colombia’s government has canceled peace talks with the nation’s remaining rebel groups, as de la Espriella takes a hard line on crime.

Some groups have responded by stepping up attacks on the military or taking actions aimed at displaying their territorial control.

In September, Colombia’s military sent troops to Santa Marta, a Caribbean city popular with tourists, after a drug gang set vehicles ablaze and told businesses to shut down for three days, in retaliation for a military operation that killed one of its leaders.

De la Espriella, who took office in August, has promised to intensify operations against rebel groups across the country, whom he said he will treat as terrorists. The Colombian president recently launched a joint task force to stop one of these groups from stealing fuel along a crucial pipeline.

De la Espriella’s policies mark a significant shift for Colombia, which over the past four years attempted multiple negotiations with rebel groups under the administration of left-wing President Gustavo Petro.

In 2016, an estimated 14,000 fighters laid down their weapons following a peace deal between Colombia’s government and the FARC, the nation’s largest guerrilla group.

But the peace deal also left a power vacuum in some rural areas that the government has been slow to fill.

Recently, smaller armed groups have been trying to occupy territory formerly held by the FARC, waging attacks against civilians and the military as they try to impose taxes on local businesses and control resources that include gold mines and drug trafficking routes.

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