Videos shared by local press show residents of Carmelo, a town in Colombia’s Cauca department, crouching for cover as gunfire cracks around them. In other clips, police officers pinned inside their station shout for help while shots and grenades hit the building.
The attack came on Sunday, 14 September 2025. Dissidents of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia struck the police station, killing one officer and wounding four people, authorities said.
Troops move in
The army announced on X that its soldiers entered Carmelo to restore order after what it called “terrorist actions.” It said these appeared to be a reaction to a police operation against criminal groups in the area. The army also said the armed groups used local residents as human shields to keep troops from reaching the police.
Cauca’s governor, Octavio Guzmán, said on X that he had made an urgent call to Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez. He asked for public order to be restored and for protection of the local population.
Who operates in the area
The dissidents in this part of southwestern Colombia reject the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC, the rebel group that fought the government for decades with assassinations, hijackings and bombings. They answer to Néstor Gregorio Vera, known as Iván Mordisco, one of the most wanted people in the country. His factions pulled out of peace talks with the government of Gustavo Petro.
It was not the first strike on police in the department that season. At least three officers were hurt in a similar attack in Cauca in late August.
Sources
- Attack at a police station in Colombia by FARC dissidents kills 1, injures 4
- One dead, four injured in FARC Dissidents attack on Colombian police station
Sources
- Attack at a police station in Colombia by FARC dissidents kills…
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