A serious act of violence shook the city of Cali in the early hours of this Tuesday, December 16, after two explosions were recorded, apparently directed at a National Police patrol that was near a CAI in the Mariano Ramos neighborhood.
The attack occurred around 3:55 in the morning, on Carrera 50 and Calle 40, when an explosive device was activated by an official motorcycle carrying two uniformed officers who were on duty.
The explosions generated panic among the inhabitants of the sector, who left their homes to try to help the injured police officers.
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The mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, confirmed the attack and noted that it was the activation of two explosives against the police patrol. Initially, the two uniformed officers, both with the rank of deputy mayors, were urgently transferred to the Valle de Lili Clinic, where they received specialized medical care.
However, minutes later, the authorities confirmed the death of the two police officers, due to the severity of the injuries caused by the explosion.
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The victims were identified as Jorge Leandro Gómez Ochoa, 36 years old, with 15 years of service in the institution, and Rober Stiven Melo Londoño, 33 years old, who had been in the National Police for 12 years.
After the attack, the representative of Cali, Gerardo Mendoza Castrillón, expressed his forceful rejection of this violent act against the Public Force and expressed his solidarity with the families of the deceased soldiers. In addition, he called to reinforce security, intelligence and prevention measures throughout the national territory to prevent similar events from being repeated.
The authorities cordoned off the area and deployed units specialized in explosives and criminalistics, in order to carry out judicial inspection work, collect evidence and establish what type of device was used and the exact modality of the attack.
Although the attack occurred in the midst of the armed strike declared by the ELN at the national level, so far no illegal armed group has been officially attributed responsibility for the attack.
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