Two Killed In Colombia Assassination Attempt

At least two people were killed and 19 injured after a bomb exploded in a busy commercial district of the Colombian capital of Bogota on Tuesday.

Authorities believe that the target of the attack was former justice and interior minister Fernando Londono, who was inside his car during the blast. Londono was injured and his driver was one of the victims.

I've just learned that an attempt was made on the life of Mr. Fernando Londono. He was in his armored car, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in a national address. “We are going to investigate until we find those responsible for this act.”

No group has claimed responsibility, but Londono was an outspoken opponent of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a let-wing guerrilla organization battling for territory in Colombia's jungles.

It has all the hallmarks of a FARC operation, Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, told CNN.

This kind of attack in Bogota has become extremely rare, but nonetheless seems designed to drive home a political point, that the guerrillas retain this capacity for violence.

Officials also said on Tuesday that they had disarmed a car-bomb planted by FARC near police headquarters in the capital, according to the AFP.

I want to condemn this in the strongest terms, said Santos. We do not know what the purpose of it was, but be absolutely certain that the government is not going to allow itself to be derailed by these terrorist acts.