# Cauca highway bombing kills ~20 as FARC dissidents open a pre-election offensive
> Petro blames Iván Mordisco's EMC for a wave of bombings across Cauca and Valle del Cauca as the campaign turns violent

**Meta:** type: event · date: 2026-04-25 · heads: O que quebrou, Como as guerras realmente terminam · 10 takes · 3 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary

A bomb on the Pan-American Highway at Cajibío, [Cauca](/pt/entity/colombia), on 25 April 2026 burned a bus and killed about 20 civilians, wounding 36 — part of a wave of roughly 26 attacks across Cauca and Valle del Cauca in two days, including a strike on a military base in Cali. President [Gustavo Petro](/pt/entity/gustavo-petro) blamed [Iván Mordisco](/pt/entity/farc-dissidents)'s Estado Mayor Central. The offensive overlapped the presidential campaign and the military's renewed push in [Catatumbo](/pt/n/colombia-total-peace-collapse-catatumbo). Monitors read it as armed groups — the EMC, [Eln](/pt/entity/eln) and Gulf Clan — fighting for coca territory and signalling strength after the collapse of "Paz Total," turning to high-visibility attacks on infrastructure and security forces as the [conflict](/pt/entity/colombia-conflict) sharpens before the August transition.

## By the numbers

- ~20 — killed in the 25 April Cajibío highway bombing; 36 wounded.
- ~26 — attacks across Cauca and Valle del Cauca in two days.
- 2 — wounded in the prior Cali military-base bombing.

## Why it matters

The bombing wave shows armed groups projecting force into Colombia's southwest and its cities during an election, not just contested rural pockets. It hands the incoming government a hardened, multi-front war and pressures Petro's legacy as "Total Peace" gives way to open military offensives.

## What to watch

- Whether the EMC/ELN sustain urban-adjacent attacks through the August handover.
- The next government's stated security posture and any return to eradication.
- Casualty and displacement trends in Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Catatumbo.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **Al Jazeera** (Qatar, en) — On-the-ground report and imagery of the 25 April Cajibío highway bombing that killed about 20 and wounded dozens, with President Petro's attribution to Iván Mordisco — the closest to a primary record of the event.
  Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2026/4/26/bomb-attack-on-colombia-highway-kills-19-ahead-of-election
- **Wikipedia (2026 Cauca bombing)** (Global, en) — 
  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Cauca_bombing
- **Human Rights Watch** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/26/colombia-armed-groups-batter-border-region
- **The City Paper Bogotá** (Colombia, en) — 
  Source: https://thecitypaperbogota.com/news/eln-and-farc-dissidents-fight-for-control-of-colombias-catatumbo/
- **ACLED** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://acleddata.com/report/civilians-colombia-face-less-deadly-more-pervasive-violence-during-petros-presidency
- **International Crisis Group** (Belgium, en) — 
  Source: https://www.crisisgroup.org/cmt/latin-america-caribbean/andes/colombia/colombia-total-peace-local-peace
- **Pirate Wire Services** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://www.piratewireservices.com/p/everything-you-need-to-know-about
- **The Human Rights** (Global, en) — 
  Source: https://thehuman-rights.com/farc-dissidents-eln-gulf-clan-colombia-armed-groups-explained/

### security advisory
- **Ackerman Group** (United States, en) — Security-firm assessment tracking the military's renewed offensive and the spread of attacks across Cauca and Valle del Cauca, reading the violence as a coordinated dissident campaign timed to the electoral calendar.
  > "Twenty-six attacks were recorded across the two departments in two days as the military pressed its Catatumbo offensive."
  Source: https://ackermangroup.com/colombia-military-launches-offensive-against-eln-in-catatumbo/

### organised-crime analysis
- **InSight Crime** (United States, en) — Analyses the renewed war for Colombia's coca heartlands among the EMC, ELN and Gulf Clan, arguing 'Total Peace' fragmentation let armed groups consolidate territory and turn to high-visibility attacks on infrastructure and security forces.
  > "A renewed war for Colombia's cocaine center is pitting FARC dissidents, the ELN and the Gulf Clan against each other and the state."
  Source: https://insightcrime.org/news/renewed-war-for-colombia-cocaine-center/

## Across the graph
- Related: [[colombia-total-peace-collapse-catatumbo]], [[colombia-runoff-cepeda-legal-challenge]], [[petro-us-decertification-fallout]]
- Entities: Colombia Conflict, Colombia, Farc Dissidents, Eln, Gustavo Petro

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/pt/n/colombia-cauca-pacific-bombing-wave