CORINTO, Colombia - South-west Colombia was rocked by a string of explosions and gun attacks that left at least three people dead on June 10, police said, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack designed to sow terror.

The attacks hit Cali – the country’s third largest city – and several nearby towns, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings, the head of police Carlos Fernando Triana told local radio station La FM.

Police told AFP that four car bombs and three other explosive devices had detonated in Cali and in three towns, gutting buildings, wrecking storefronts and scattering debris. Two bombs went off in Cali and separate explosions were reported in the towns of Corinto, El Bordo and Jamundi.

In Corinto, an AFP journalist witnessed the tangled wreckage of a car that had exploded next to a scorched and badly damaged municipal building.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks, but guerillas who broke away from the now once-powerful Farc militia are known to operate in the area.

The bombings came just days after the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate in Bogota, a brazen attack that has put the country on edge. AFP

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