On July 17, 2022, a motorcycle VBIED was initiated against a police patrol in the town of El Bardo, in Cauca department, in southwestern Colombia. The motorcycle VBIED was initiated as a police vehicle was driving past. A civilian on a motorcycle passing by on the opposite side of the street at the moment of the blast was killed. 13 other people were injured, six of whom were police officers.
The IED, which contained fragmentation, specifically targeted the police vehicle and appears to have been RC initiated by an operator with line of sight to the target. The blast effect was limited, presumably as a result of a relatively small quantity of explosives in the main charge IED.
The use of motorcycle VBIEDs is one of the FARC dissidents’ preferred attack TTPs against security forces in Colombia, especially in Cauca department, in recent years. To date, these have been mainly motorcycle VBIEDs with quite large main charge IEDs, targeting police stations and government buildings. In the last year, a new trend can be identified, mainly motorcycle VBIEDs with relatively small explosive payloads specifically targeting moving police vehicles or police officers/bomb disposal technicians called to examine the motorcycles.
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