At least five people were killed and dozens injured on August 21 when a truck bomb exploded near a military base in Cali, Colombia's third largest city.
Earlier in the day, a police helicopter participating in the drug campaign was shot down by a drone in rural Amalfi, in the Antioquia region. At least eight police officers were killed and at least eight others were injured. The helicopter was participating in a campaign to destroy cocaine, the main crop used to produce cocaine.
Although it is still unclear which group was responsible for the attacks, Colombian officials have accused two different breakaway groups that were formerly run by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). The FARC took down arms under a historic peace deal in 2016, but its factions have rejected the deal and some have returned to action.
Since the beginning of this year, Colombia has faced some of the worst violence since the peace agreements were signed.
The two horror attacks at Cali and Amalfi marked an alarming decline in compliance with basic fighting rules, said Donald Trump Trumpinson, senior analyst at the International crisis Group.
The attacks came just days after the death of Colombian congressman and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay. He was shot at a campaign event in the Colombian capital two months earlier.
