On April 25, 2026, at approximately 12:35 PM, an underbelly IED was initiated beneath the Pan-American Highway in the El Túnel sector of Cajibío Municipality, Cauca Department, along Colombia Route 25 (Pan-American Highway), approximately 35 kilometers north of Popayán. The device had been emplaced inside a water drainage culvert beneath the roadway.
The IED was initiated via remote command while the culvert area was completely surrounded by tightly packed civilian vehicles caught in a forced traffic backlog.
The explosion resulted in an immediate mass-casualty event, causing 21 civilian fatalities and 36 injuries requiring hospitalization. The attack was widely described by Colombian media as one of the deadliest mass-casualty bombing attacks against civilians in Colombia in recent decades.
Since 2025, the 385-kilometer Pan-American Highway has increasingly served as a target area for attacks conducted along the route, including underbelly IED attacks, various roadside IED attacks, armed UAV attacks, improvised mortar attacks and shooting attacks. In addition, the highway has also been targeted for robberies involving trucks and various transportation and cargo vehicles through the establishment of illegal roadblocks.
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