A BOMB killed 13 people on a bus in south-western Colombia on Saturday and left at least 38 injured amid escalating violence linked to drug trafficking in the region.

Octavio Guzman, the governor of the Cauca region, wrote on X that the device was set off while the bus was travelling along the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. Five children were among the injured, Cauca Health Secretary Carolina Camargo said.

Armed forces commander General Hugo Lopez told a news conference that the explosion was a terrorist act and blamed the network of a man known as Ivan Mordiscoi, one of Colombia’s most wanted figures, and the Jaime Martinez faction.

Both are breakaways from the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) that operate in the region.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on X, saying: “Those who carried out the attack and killed seven civilians — and wounded 17 others — in Cajibio — many of them indigenous people — are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers.”

The attack is the latest in a spate of explosions targeting public infrastructure.