Colombia bombings kill officer as new president starts

Two bombing attacks in Colombia on Saturday killed at least one police officer and wounded several people on President Abelardo de la Espriella's first day in office.

Colombia's army said FARC guerrilla dissidents used explosives to destroy a highway tollbooth near Cali early Saturday, causing minor injuries to two security guards. The tollbooth was under construction on the Pan-American highway in Santander de Quilichao municipality.

About 1,000 kilometers away in the northern department of Cesar, officials said an explosive-equipped drone struck a police station, killing an officer. Authorities had not identified suspects in that attack.

De la Espriella, a hard-right first-time political leader, was inaugurated Friday in Cali. He campaigned on confronting "narcoterrorism without truce" and ending peace talks with armed groups.

After the tollbooth attack, De la Espriella condemned the bombing on X and said there would be "no refuge, no leniency and no impunity" for those responsible. After the police station attack, he said whoever was responsible "will not go unpunished."

Rebels under the command of Ivan Morodisco, described as Colombia's most wanted guerrilla commander, operate around the tollbooth area. Morodisco leads dissidents who broke away from the 2016 peace agreement between the FARC and Colombia's government.