Colombia bombings wound two as de la Espriella cracks down on prisons

Colombia was struck by two bombing attacks on Sunday, a day after Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as president, leaving two people wounded and a police officer dead, according to the army. The first attack destroyed a highway tollbooth near Cali, in the country's southwest, which the army attributed to dissidents of the former FARC rebel group.

A separate attack killed a police officer roughly 1,000 kilometres away in the northern department of Cesar, authorities said, though details on the perpetrators of that assault were not immediately confirmed. The near-simultaneous attacks came as de la Espriella's government moves to tighten control over Colombia's prison system, part of a broader push against organised crime and armed groups.

De la Espriella campaigned on a hard-line approach to Colombia's decades-long conflict and criminal violence, and took to social media after the attacks to vow that his government would show no leniency toward those responsible. The attacks underscore the security challenges facing the new president as armed groups continue to operate across large parts of the country.