Bomb Explodes Near Colombia Bullring, Injuring Dozens of Officers

Colombia :---(WN)---A homemade bomb exploded near a bullring in Bogotá on Sunday, injuring two dozen police officers and two civilians, the Colombian authorities said.

An explosion Sunday near the Santamaria bullfighting ring in downtown Bogota, Colombia, injured at least 31 people, many of them policemen, according to reports. Two of the 31 were seriously injured, Mayor Enrique Peñalosa tweeted. At least 10 police officers were hurt, according to the Bogota police press office.  A dozen suspects were taken into custody, the press office said.

"The terrorists won't intimidate us. And we're going to do everything necessary to capture them," Peñalosa said in another tweet. The explosive device, which shattered windows in nearby apartment buildings, appeared to have been left in a sewer outside a new youth hostel popular with foreign backpackers. It was detonated just a few hours before a scheduled bullfight, as police officers in riot gear were gathering ahead of a demonstration by animal rights activists.

The authorities did not give a motive for the attack and said they had no evidence that it had anything to do with the resumption of bullfighting at the ring. Some local news organizations speculated that the bomb might have been placed by members of the National Liberation Army, the country’s second-largest rebel movement, which has carried out small attacks on police targets in recent weeks.

Mayor Enrique Peñalosa initially said on Twitter that a police officer had been killed. But as the blast scene was brought under control, he deleted the post. An official police statement said that 26 people had suffered shrapnel and blast injuries, all but two of them officers. All of the wounded were taken to three nearby hospitals. Six were in critical condition with eye injuries, officials said.

“The terrorists won’t intimidate us,” Mr. Peñalosa said on Twitter. “We are going to do all that’s necessary to capture them.” Juan David Gonzalez, an owner of the hostel, El Pit, said that his two dozen guests were shaken by the blast, but that none were injured.

“We were all inside having breakfast when we heard the blast,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “Everyone was in shock, but luckily, nobody inside was hurt.” A video of the explosion that was broadcast on local television shows a cloud of debris knocking down a phone cabling box and quickly engulfing a busy street corner as cars and pedestrians pass.

Last month, the police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of young demonstrators as mobs attacked spectators attending the first bullfight in the city in four years. But bullfights have gone off without a hitch since then, and Sunday’s spectacle at Bogotá’s 1930s-era brick bullring was set to be the last of the two-month season.

Bogotá’s previous leftist mayor outlawed bullfighting in 2012. But the Constitutional Court later overturned the ban, ruling that bullfighting was part of Colombia’s cultural heritage and could not be blocked.

Despite the tense environment in recent weeks, Mr. Peñalosa all but ruled out that the bullfight protesters were to blame. “It’s not part of our hypothesis,” he said after an emergency meeting with his top security aides.