Even before the attack, Mr. Duque, whose right-wing Democratic Center party campaigned against the peace deal with the FARC, expressed little enthusiasm for negotiating with the ELN. Image A vigil outside the police academy. The attack on Thursday was the first car bombing in Bogotá in years. Credit... Leonardo Munoz/EPA, via Shutterstock “If the ELN really wants peace,” he said on Friday, “they need to show the country concrete actions, like the immediate return of all kidnapped people and the end of all criminal actions.” Mr. Botero, the defense minister, said the attacker, Mr. Rojas, had joined the ELN in the 1990s and worked as an explosives instructor. He lost a hand at one point in an explosion and thereafter was known by the nickname “Mocho,” slang in Colombia for someone who is missing a hand or arm. In 2015, as the FARC was nearing its peace deal with the government, Mr. Rojas had tried three times to pass himself off as a member of that group to receive demobilization benefits, but FARC members rejected him repeatedly, said Mr. Botero, the defense minister. The FARC, which has given up arms and formed a political party, worked to distance itself from the attack this week. “We express our solidarity with the victims and their families,” the party wrote in a statement after the attack. “And we call on all sectors of the country to keep building a pact that takes violence and weapons out of doing politics.”<doc-sep>A car bomb exploded outside a police academy on Bogota, Colombia on Thursday leaving at least nine dead and dozens injured, the city's mayor Enrique Penalosa said. Videos and photos from the scene outside General Santander academy in the country's capital show a vehicle burned beyond recognition, still smoking as shrapnel surrounds the area. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the tragic incident yet, but rebels from the National Liberation Army have been stepping up attacks towards police in Colombia recently amid a standoff with conservative President Ivan Duque over stalled peace talks, the Associated Press reports. VETERAN 'STAR' DEA AGENT CONSPIRED WITH COLOMBIAN DRUG CARTELS TO LAUNDER MORE THAN $7M The bombing is considered the deadliest to have taken place in Bogota since June 2017, when an explosion in a shopping mall there killed three people and injured 11. It is the biggest attack against a police or military facility in Bagota in over a decade. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered the windows of surrounding buildings, witnesses said. The scene is still incredibly chaotic as this story unfolds, with ambulances and helicopters flocking to the typically secure area to document the carnage. REPORT: DISSIDENT REBELS FUEL VIOLENCE IN COLOMBIA PORT CITY Colombian President Ivan Duque wrote on Twitter that he was heading straight for Bogota in light of the "miserable terror attack." "I have given orders to the public force to determine the perpetrators of this attack and bring them to justice," Duque said in a tweet translated from Spanish to English. "All Colombians reject terrorism and are united to confront it. COLOMBIA is saddened, but does not bend to violence." Travel advisories have long been issued by the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, encouraging increased awareness and caution due to organized crime and terror organizations, such as the National Liberation Army, known in Colombia as the ELN. Tensions have grown stronger between the guerilla group and the Colombian governmen recently, as new President Ivan Duque required that the group release their hostages before taking part in any peace negotiations. In response, the terror group has reportedly been fueling violence in rural port cities such as Tumaco. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In an article written by the National Liberation Army, published just yesterday, January 16, the terror group wrote the "National Army openly threatens paramilitary operations against the population," because of a "war decreed by the government of Iván Duque" against the Northeastern region of Colombia.<doc-sep>At least ten people have been killed and dozens injured after a car bomb exploded at a police station in Bogota, Colombia's capital. Ambulances and helicopters rushed to the General Santander national police academy, the normaly tightly-guarded target of the attack. Images posted on social media showed a charred and burning vehicle surrounded by debris. The police barracks buildings nearby are pockmarked with damage from the blast and have shattered windows. The death toll, reported by the defence ministry, currently stands at ten, and the Bogota health ministry said a further 54 people were injured. Residents of Bogota have been asked to donate blood at four points across the capital to help doctors treating the scores of wounded. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for today’s bombing, but leftist rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) group have stepped up attacks on police in Colombia in recent months as peace talks with the president Ivan Duque have stalled. Last week the ELN rejected Mr Duque’s demands for a unilateral ceasefire before negotiations in Havana resume. The Cuban-inspired insurgency had been a minor player but stepped up its operations after the main guerilla group, FARC, disarmed in 2016. Mr Duque, who had been visiting a western state of Colombia, announced shortly after the explosion he would be immediately returning to Bogota because of what he called an “miserable act of terrorism” against the police. There is now a huge security presence at the police barracks (AFP) “All Colombians reject terrorism and are united in confronting it,” he tweeted, adding he had ordered every effort to be made to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. “Colombia is saddened but does not bow before this violence.” World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. 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Bogotá car bomb: Colombia blames ELN rebels for deadly explosion Published 18 January 2019 image copyright Reuters image caption The explosion outside a police academy shocked the Colombian capital Colombia has blamed the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group for a car bomb attack that killed 21 people in the capital, Bogotá. Dozens more were injured in Thursday's blast after an explosives-laden vehicle broke into the grounds of a police academy before it detonated. The driver, who was also killed, has been identified as a 57-year-old man. President Ivan Duque put peace talks with the ELN on hold when he took power in 2018. Any restart to the negotiations is unlikely following the attack, the deadliest in the country in many years, correspondents say. What has the government said? The driver, named earlier as José Aldemar Rojas Rodríguez, was a long-time ELN member and the group's top explosives expert, Defence Minister Guillermo Botero said. The suspect, known by his war alias "El Mocho" or "Kiko", had lost his right hand in an accident with an explosive and was based in the northern department of Arauca, from where he frequently crossed into Venezuela. "This was an operation that has been planned for the past 10 months," Mr Botero said, adding that the guerrillas were the "intellectual authors" behind the driver's attack. A second man who had "participated" in the carrying out of the attack was arrested in Bogotá, Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez said. image copyright EPA image caption A vigil was held in Bogotá on Thursday to honour the victims President Duque, who visited the site of the explosion on Thursday, described the attack as a "crazy terrorist act". "We won't rest until we capture and bring to justice the terrorists involved," he said. "Colombians have never yielded to terrorism, we have always defeated it. This will not be an exception." Colombia's High Commissioner for Peace Miguel Ceballos said there would be "no space for dialogue with the ELN until they hand over all the kidnapped people and completely renounce their criminal acts." What do we know about the explosion? The grey Nissan Patrol entered the compound of the General Santander police academy in the south of Bogotá where a promotion ceremony for cadets was being held. When the car was stopped by guards at a checkpoint, the driver accelerated and hit a wall, at which point the vehicle exploded. The vehicle was carrying 80kg (176lb) of the powerful explosive pentolite, which has been used in the past by Colombia's rebel guerrilla groups. The blast at 09:30 local time (14:30 GMT) shattered windows of nearby buildings. image copyright EPA image caption The explosion happened outside a school for police cadets Twenty of the victims were police cadets aged between 17 and 22, Mr Botero said. At least 68 people were injured but the majority of those have since been discharged from hospital. Who are the ELN rebels? image copyright Getty Images image caption The group has been fighting the Colombian state for more than five decades The 2,000-strong guerrilla group was founded in 1964 to fight against Colombia's unequal distribution of land and riches, inspired by the Cuban revolution of 1959 Over the decades, the group has attacked large landholders and multinational companies, and repeatedly blown up oil pipelines To finance itself it has resorted to extortion, kidnappings and drug trafficking It has been strongest in rural areas What's the current situation in Colombia? Car bombs were not uncommon during the decades-long conflict between the Colombian government and left-wing rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). But an explosion of a car bomb of this size is something that has not happened in a long time in Bogotá and it took the city by surprise, BBC Mundo Colombia correspondent Boris Miranda reports. Colombia has significantly reduced bomb attacks and murders in recent years but the attack shows that it is a continuing fear for citizens, our correspondent adds. The Farc signed a peace agreement with the government in November 2016 and the group has since become a political party of the same name. The party's leader, Pastor Alape, condemned the attack., calling it a "provocation against the political way out of the conflict". Peace talks between the smaller ELN and the previous government of President Juan Manuel Santos stalled, and President Duque, who takes a more hardline approach to the group, has not resumed them. Related Topics Bogota Colombia