A powerful explosion ripped through a street in Cúcuta, northeastern Colombia, on Sunday, claiming the lives of two senior police officers and plunging the volatile border region into renewed turmoil. Authorities swiftly attributed the attack to the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country’s last active Marxist guerrilla organisation, describing it as deliberate retaliation for ongoing military operations against the group.

President Gustavo Petro condemned the killings on social media, identifying the victims as a police superintendent and a sub-superintendent, and announced an immediate surge of troops along the porous Colombian-Venezuelan frontier. In a separate incident the same day in another Norte de Santander neighbourhood, two soldiers were wounded in what National Police Director General William Ospina labelled coordinated “terrorist attacks” orchestrated by the ELN.

The bombings mark a sharp escalation in hostilities barely months after peace negotiations between the Petro administration and the ELN collapsed. Talks had already been derailed earlier this year when an ELN offensive in the Catatumbo region left nearly 100 people dead. The guerrilla force, founded in 1964, is now locked in a fierce struggle for territorial control along the border with dissident factions of the demobilised FARC, particularly the notorious 33rd Front.

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The International Committee of the Red Cross recently warned of a “sharp deterioration” in Colombia’s humanitarian situation, citing intensified armed confrontations that are displacing civilians and restricting access to basic services. Sunday’s attack follows another explosion in Cauca department on Saturday that injured seven people, underscoring the widening reach of non-state armed groups.

President Petro revealed that prosecutors have finalised an indictment against the leader of FARC dissidents, known as “Iván Mordisco,” and other commanders, accusing them of “narco-terrorism.” The case is being prepared for submission to the International Criminal Court, signalling the government’s intent to pursue international justice as domestic security challenges mount across multiple regions.

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