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Colombia blames 'terrorists' for Bogota blasts

July 3, 2015

At least eight people have been hurt after two bombs exploded in the Colombian capital. The government has blamed terrorists, with the country's president abandoning an international summit to return home.

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Bogota Kolumbien Übersicht
Image: picture alliance / blickwinkel

The first of the blasts on Thursday was in the offices of Porvenir pension funds in Bogota's financial district, where seven people were injured.

An eighth victim was hurt by an explosion at an office of Porvenir in the Puente Aranda area in the west of the city.

City police commander Gen. Humberto Guatibonza said investigators were still interviewing witnesses and reviewing video footage from security cameras.

Defense Secretary Luis Carlos Villegas said the explosions were meant to intimidate people, labeling whoever was behind them terrorists.

President Manuel Santos's office said he was returning early from the Pacific Alliance trade conference in Peru to oversee the investigation. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, although they do coincide with an increase in the number of attacks by the country's largest rebel movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Although both sides are involved in peace talks taking place in Cuba, they have stepped up attacks against each other in recent weeks.

However, the attacks also bear the hallmarks of attacks earlier this year that were blamed on National Liberation Army (ELN), the country's second-largest guerilla group.

rc/jr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters, EFE)