A truck packed with explosives detonated outside a police station in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Saturday, injuring at least 11 people and heightening security concerns just six days before President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is set to take office.
Authorities said eight police officers and three civilians were wounded in the blast, which ripped through the area near the Venezuela border, leaving the truck engulfed in flames and damaging nearby buildings. Soldiers, police officers and residents rushed to the scene as emergency crews responded.
"At this time, we have eight police officers and three civilians who have been injured," George Quintero, security secretary for the Norte de Santander department, told reporters. "This was an atrocious, violent act, and what happened is regrettable."
De la Espriella swiftly condemned the attack, describing it as terrorism and vowing it would not derail his incoming administration.
"I condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly terrorist attack carried out in Cucuta against our National Police," the president-elect wrote on X. "Terrorism will not intimidate Colombia or break Colombians' determination to live in peace and security."
