
At least seven dead in Colombia attacks, local media reports
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Gunman kills 10 people in school shooting in Austria’s Graz; attacker dead
Suspected shooter reported to have died by suicide as country mourns after one of its worst mass shootings.Austria will hold three days of national mourning for Tuesday’s violence, which appears to be the deadliest attack in the nation’s history since World War II. Police were deployed to the BORG Dreierschutzengasse school in Austria’s second largest city on Tuesday morning after shots were heard and secured the premises. Local media reports identified the suspect as a 21-year-old former Austrian student who had been a victim of bullying. His motive was not yet known and he had no previous police record. Police said they are working on the assumption that there was a sole suspect and that no further danger is expected. The issue of gun-ownership is expected to be debated in Austria.
A 10th victim has died in a shooting at a school in the Austrian city of Graz, and more than 10 others have been injured, according to Austrian media and a local hospital.
The suspected attacker is also dead, according to the Austrian Press Agency. Police were deployed to the BORG Dreierschutzengasse school in Austria’s second largest city on Tuesday morning after shots were heard and secured the premises.
Local media reports identified the suspect as a 21-year-old former Austrian student who had been a victim of bullying. His motive was not yet known and he had no previous police record.
He reportedly carried a pistol and a shotgun and opened fire on pupils in two classrooms, one of which had once been his classroom. Media reports said he died by suicide and his body was found in a bathroom.
Austria will hold three days of national mourning for Tuesday’s violence, which appears to be the deadliest attack in the nation’s history since World War II.
“No further danger is expected,” the police said earlier in the day, adding that students had been evacuated and were receiving support from a crisis intervention team along with their parents.
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Among those killed were at least seven students, Graz Mayor Elke Kahr said, describing the attack as a “terrible tragedy”. At least two adults were also killed.
The Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported shots were first heard about 10am (08:00 GMT) and the attack was carried out across two classrooms at the upper secondary school, which is attended by pupils 14 years and older.
Metin Özden was in his kebab restaurant near the school when he first heard police cars sped by, and then a police helicopter above. He told the Kronen Zeitung: “I knew something bad had happened. … I’ve never seen so many emergency services in my entire life.” He also described seeing parents walking past his restaurant and crying on the way to the school.
Police said they are working on the assumption that there was a sole suspect.
Chancellor Christian Stocker planned to travel to the school, a spokeswoman said. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner was also expected at the scene.
Mario Kunasek, governor of the southeastern Austrian state of Styria, of which Graz – which has a population of about 300,000 people – is the capital, expressed condolences to families of the victims.
“As a father, I am deeply saddened by this insane act, which has caused so much harm and incredible suffering,” he said. “My thoughts are with the innocent victims, families and teachers.”
A spokeswoman for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the killings “absolutely horrible and tragic”.
“We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the entire city of Graz. We stand together in mourning while we seek clarity in the wake of this horrible event,” she said.
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The issue of gun-ownership is expected to be debated in Austria, which has one of the highest ownership rates in Europe, following this attack, said Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Graz.
“Many people think this is about time for strict background checks to prevent similar shootings in the future,” concluded Ahelbarra.
Seven dead as Colombia hit with wave of bombings and gun attacks
Seven dead as Colombia hit with wave of bombings and gun attacks. Attackers struck targets in Cali — the country’s third-largest city — and several nearby towns. Police chief Carlos Fernando Triana said assailants used car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone. Attacks come days after a brazen attempted assassination of a presidential candidate in Bogota that has put the country on edge. The attacks come three days after conservative senator Uribe, 39, was shot twice in the head at close range by an alleged hitman while campaigning in the capital.. Police and experts blamed the attacks on a dissident faction of the once-powerful FARC guerrilla group. Security expert Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group said the attacks were likely the work of a group known as the Central General Staff (EMC) The EMC warned the public to stay away from military and police installations, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
A woman stands inside a destroyed commercial building after a car exploded in front of the City Hall in Corinto, Cauca department, Colombia, on June 10, 2025. Southwest Colombia was rocked by a string of explosions that left at least one person dead, police said Tuesday, in what appeared to be a coordinated attack. (JOAQUIN SARMIENTO) (JOAQUIN SARMIENTO/AFP/AFP)
Colombia was rocked by a string of 24 coordinated bomb and gun attacks that killed at least seven people across the country’s southwest Tuesday, deepening a security crisis roiling the Andean nation.
Attackers struck targets in Cali — the country’s third-largest city — and several nearby towns, hitting police posts, municipal buildings and civilian targets.
National Police chief Carlos Fernando Triana said assailants — suspected to be a local guerrilla group — had attacked using car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone.
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“There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead,” he said. Police later put the toll at seven dead and 28 more injured.
In Cali and the towns of Villa Rica, Guachinte and Corinto, AFP journalists witnessed the tangled wreckage of vehicle bombs surrounded by scorched debris and damaged buildings.
The attacks came days after a brazen attempted assassination of a presidential candidate in Bogota that has put the country on edge.
Many Colombians are now fearful of a return to the violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cartel attacks, guerrilla violence and political assassinations were commonplace.
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Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said the government had received unverified “proof” of possible guerrilla involvement in the attack on Senator Miguel Uribe.
– ‘Well-coordinated offensive’ –
In the town of Corinto, resident Luz Amparo was at home when the blast gutted her bakery Tuesday.
“We thought it was an earthquake,” she told AFP. “My husband said ‘no, they are shooting.'”
Her phone began to ring off the hook and she went to check on her store. As she rounded the corner, the neighbors began to look in her direction.
“Everything was leveled,” she said.
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Police and experts blamed the attacks on a dissident faction of the once-powerful FARC guerrilla group.
Security expert Elizabeth Dickinson of the International Crisis Group said the attacks were likely the work of a group known as the Central General Staff (EMC).
“This is a particularly well-coordinated offensive. It really demonstrates the capacity that the group has built” she told AFP.
“And I think very alarmingly it demonstrates their ability to conduct operations in the metropolitan area of Cali.”
Efforts by President Gustavo Petro to reach a peace deal with the EMC and other armed groups have repeatedly failed.
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Dickinson said the group may be trying to stop an ongoing military operation that is reported to have injured or killed the group’s veteran leader, known as “Ivan Mordisco.”
“They are trying to raise the cost of that military initiative for the government,” said Dickinson.
In a statement on Tuesday, the EMC warned the public to stay away from military and police installations, but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
The attacks come three days after conservative senator Uribe, 39, was shot twice in the head at close range by an alleged hitman while campaigning in the capital.
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A 15-year-old suspect pleaded “not guilty” on Tuesday to carrying out the attempted assassination. The government believes he was a hired gun.
That attack has stunned Colombians, prompted speculation about who was responsible and raised questions about the president’s response.
Petro has taken to social media to speculate that the hit was ordered by an international “mafia” and to claim that Uribe’s security detail was suspiciously reduced the day he was shot.
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At least seven dead in Colombia attacks, local media reports
Car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone used in attacks. Colombian Ministry of Defence said 19 attacks had taken place. Attacks come days after the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay in the capital city, Bogota. The mayor of the region’s biggest city, Cali, said the city had returned to 1989, when it was blighted by the drugs trade and cartel violence. The BBC has not been able to independently verify this.
Two police officers were said to be among those killed in the attacks, which targeted Cali, the country’s third-largest city, and several nearby towns.
Car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone were reportedly used in the attacks. The Colombian Ministry of Defence said 19 attacks had taken place.
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Local media have linked some of the attacks to a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a once-powerful guerrilla group. The BBC has not been able to independently verify this.
Police stations, municipal buildings and civilian targets were hit as an escalating security crisis grips the South American country.
Police put the toll at seven dead, according to Reuters and Agence France-Presse, while the number of injured ranged from 28 to more than 50.
In a statement posted to social media, the Colombian Ministry of Defence said there were 12 attacks in the Cauca region and seven in the Valle del Cauca region, the ministry said.
Map: Colombia, showing the regions Cauca, and Valle del Cauca, where the city Cali is located
The ministry described the violence as “a desperate reaction by illegal armed groups to the massive operations of the [military and police], which have devastated their illicit structures and economies”.
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The mayor of the region’s biggest city, Cali, said the city had returned to 1989, when it was blighted by the drugs trade and cartel violence.
The attacks come days after the attempted assassination of presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay in the capital city, Bogota, while he addressed supporters.
A 15-year-old was arrested on the scene at the time. On Tuesday, the Attorney General’s office said the teenager did not accept the charges levelled against him, including attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.
A judge has ordered the detention of the teenager, the Attorney General’s office added.
At least 7 dead after wave of explosions hit southwest Colombia, authorities say
Explosions in Colombia kill at least seven and injure 28, police say. The army says it has intelligence linking the attacks to the FARC. The FARC has not claimed responsibility for the attacks. The attacks come days after a U.S. presidential hopeful was shot in the head in a separate incident.. The president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, says he is “deeply saddened’ by the violence, which he called a “terrorist attack’. The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss how to respond to the attacks in Cali and elsewhere in the south of the country, a spokesman says. The UN is hosting a biodiversity conference this week in the city of Cali, which was the target of an earlier attack in the country’s capital, Bogota. The conference is the first of its kind in Colombia and is aimed at showcasing the country as a biodiversity hotspot. It is also intended to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment.
A wave of explosions rocked southwest Colombia on Tuesday morning, authorities said, killing at least seven people in an attack believed to be targeting the country’s police.
Explosions occurred in the city of Cali and several towns in the departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, the Colombian National Army reported on X. It added that the country’s police were a “direct target” of the attacks.
Colombia’s national police reported more than 20 “terrorist attacks” throughout the day, including car bombings, firearm attacks, and the launching of explosive devices.
At least two officers were among those killed, and a mix of civilians, military personnel, and police were among the 28 people injured, police added.
The army said it has intelligence linking the attacks to the leader of the guerrilla group Estado Mayor Central, one of the factions of fighters that remain after the country’s FARC rebels signed a peace agreement with the Colombian government. It did not offer evidence for the claim.
Estado Mayor Central has not claimed responsibility for the attack. In a Tuesday statement, the group accused Colombia’s government of reneging on the peace process and issued tips to civilians on avoiding the crossfire. CNN is reaching out to the group for comment.
In Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city, the city’s mayor Alejandro Eder said three explosive devices were detonated on Tuesday.
Eder said the explosions were recorded in Cali’s Los Mangos area, near the Meléndez police station, and another at the Manuela Beltrán Immediate Attention Center (CAI), a police substation. The situation is now “under control,” Eder said later on Tuesday, adding that he ordered security forces to deploy throughout the city
“They want us to go back to 1989, we won’t allow for it!” Eder said, referencing a period of intense violence in Colombia, including the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán.
Videos of the aftermath in Cali, posted to social media and geolocated by CNN, show exploded vehicles still burning and scorched debris scattered across the street. Crowds of dazed pedestrians are seen gathering around the site as emergency sirens sound in the distance.
The defense ministry said military forces prevented six attacks and captured two people preparing explosives.
Sergio Guzman, the founder of Colombia Risk Analysis, a Bogota-based risk consultancy, told CNN the attacks demonstrate how criminal armed organizations are “trying to pressure the government further to make more agreements or concessions to them.”
Dilian Francisca Toro, the governor of Valle del Cauca, where Cali is located, urged Colombian President Gustavo Petro to convene the country’s Security Council to respond to the “current escalation of terrorism.”
The attacks in downtown Cali were particularly significant, as they impacted the largest urban area in the south of the country and a major tourist and economic hub, International Crisis Group Senior Analyst Elizabeth Dickinson told CNN.
“It indicates also that these organizations have an interest not only in being present in rural areas where they have access to illicit economies, but also to more broadly destabilizing the country and affecting urban security,” Dickinson said.
In October, thousands of delegates from around the world gathered in Cali for a UN-sponsored conference on biodiversity, as Petro’s government sought to present Colombia as a vibrant, biodiverse nation that had left the worst chapters of its violent political history behind.
Colombian Vice-President Francia Márquez Mina condemned the violence.
“I categorically reject the wave of violence that has erupted in Cali and northern Cauca at this time. It’s unacceptable to instill fear in the people and then offer security,” she said on X, “As a National Government, we must redouble our efforts to restore public order and guarantee the security and peace of mind of the Colombian people.”
The blasts come days after prominent Colombian politician and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot at a campaign event. Uribe remains in critical condition as of Tuesday morning. A 15-year-old has been charged with attempted murder over the shooting.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro says he has asked US authorities to help investigate the shooting, saying the suspect’s weapon was purchased in Arizona.
CNN’s Avery Schmitz contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
At least seven dead in Colombia attacks, local media reports
At least seven dead in Colombia attacks, local media reports say. Car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone reportedly used. Colombian Ministry of Defence said 19 attacks had taken place.
At least seven people have died in a wave of bomb and gun attacks in south-western Colombia, according to local media reports.
Two police officers were said to be among those killed in the attacks, which targeted Cali, the country’s third-largest city, and several nearby towns.
Car bombs, motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone were reportedly used in the attacks. The Colombian Ministry of Defence said 19 attacks had taken place.
Local media have linked some of the attacks to a faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a once-powerful guerrilla group. The BBC has not been able to independently verify this.