Two members of security forces killed in terror attack near Cúcuta airport

Bogota, Dec 14 (EFE).- An alleged terrorist killed two members of Colombia’s security forces in a twin explosion near the Camilo Daza international airport in the Colombian city of Cúcuta, officials said Tuesday.

The assailant, who was wearing an explosive device, was killed in the first blast while the two security officers were killed in a second blast as police rushed to the site, the governor of Norte de Santander, Silvano Serrano, told local media.

“Apparently, a second device that was at the site is the one that caused the death of the two uniformed men,” he said.

Colombia’s president Ivan Duque in a social media post called the incident a “cowardly terrorist attack.”

Operations at the airport of the city, located on the border with Venezuela, have been suspended after the explosions, the Civil Aeronautics authorities announced..

Colonel Giovanni Antonio Madariaga Pérez, of the Cúcuta Police, said that the “criminals entered the Camilo Daza airport where they detonated an explosive device between the platform and the external mesh” of the terminal.

A few minutes later, two explosive experts who were inspecting the area found a suitcase and “upon approaching with all the security measures (it) detonated,” which killed them both, he added.

In June, a car explosion hit the Army’s Thirtieth Brigade facilities in Cúcuta wounding 36, and weeks later a helicopter transporting Duque was hit by several shots as it approached the Camilo Daza airport. EFE

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