Explosions at Colombia city airport leave three people dead, including two policemen

Two devices exploded on Tuesday near the airport in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, killing three people, including two police officers, authorities said without immediately identifying the attackers.

Cúcuta is the capital of Norte de Santander, a department that borders Venezuela and has become the new epicenter of Colombia’s long internal conflict as security forces battle gangs of drug traffickers and guerrillas amid growing coca production.

“Criminals entered the Camilo Daza airport, where they detonated an explosive device between the platform and the mesh, causing that human remains are identified“Said Colonel Giovanni Madarriaga, commander in charge of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Police, in a video.

The officer explained that minutes after the first explosion the police identified another suitcase, which exploded as they approached.

“At this time we continue to collect all the material evidence to identify how was the manner, how they entered and the authorship of the criminal and terrorist group“Added Madarriaga.

The two dead police officers, William Bareño Ardila and David Reyes Jiménez, had been recognized for their work to remove landmines, police said in messages to journalists.

“We repudiate the cowardly terrorist attack that occurred in the city of Cúcuta (…) we coordinate immediate actions to find those responsible for this attack“President Iván Duque wrote on his Twitter account.

In mid-June, a car bomb exploded at the facilities of the Army’s 30th brigade in Cúcuta, injuring 44 people, including two US servicemen who were part of a group that was training Colombian Army troops, in an attack that claimed to be the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Days later, Duque’s helicopter was attacked with bullets from the ground when the president was flying over with other officials near the same city.