Petro affirms that it is "very likely" that the FARC dissidents are to blame for the attack on the police

MADRID, 4 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has assured that it is very likely that those responsible for this Friday's attack against a Colombian police vehicle that has left seven agents dead and one injured in the east of the country are the FARC dissidents.

"It is highly probable that members who are called dissidents today in some of the formations have been responsible for the attack. It is this type of dissidence that has to answer for these events," Petro declared at a press conference after moving to the place where he has the attack occurred.

The Colombian president has determined that the probability that the FARC is responsible is 90 percent. "The investigation must continue now in the hands of the Prosecutor's Office," he added.

"Since yesterday we have held several meetings right here (department of Huila) trying to learn from the mistakes that have been made and the circumstances that the country is experiencing," said the leader.

Likewise, Petro has lamented that these actions are a reflection of the breach of the peace agreement. "The population is upset in anxiety because it had built the illusion of definitive peace", he has expressed.

"The more there is talk of peace, the more we have to raise our guard, the more care we have to be from the point of view of military action," Petro said, after announcing that he will take stock of the peace process.

In addition, the president has requested that there be "no more police assistants in the conflict zones." "You have to take care of those first youths. Those boys cannot be in high-risk places, where more capacity and years of experience are needed. Hopefully no more 18- and 19-year-old boys die," he asserted, since of the seven Deceased officers, three were auxiliaries.

Colombian authorities confirmed on Friday night that seven police officers had died and one agent had been injured, as a result of an attack with explosive devices in a rural area of ​​Nieva, in eastern Colombia.

At first, the authorities confirmed the death of the eight agents who were traveling in an institutional vehicle. However, the Police later specified that one of the uniformed men would have survived by hiding during the attack.

Petro lamented that "these events express a clear sabotage of total peace." "I have asked the authorities to travel to the territory to take over the investigation," he added in a message posted on his Twitter social network account.

The representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, Juliette de Rivero, has joined the demonstrations of solidarity with "the relatives of the victims and the institution." "We make an urgent call for respect for life," she urged.