Incident Summary:
07/21/2009: On Tuesday morning around 1030, in the municipality of Corinto, in the northern area of the Department of Cauca, Colombia, 50 guerrillas dressed in camouflage uniforms claiming to be military approached a commercial establishment open fired on police officers first then indiscriminate civilians and launched a grenade inside a bakery store. The explosion killed three civilians, a 40-year-old farmer, Reinaldo Casas, A 19-year-old Marcos Pálaga and 17-year-old Oscar Fernando Ocampo , injured 17 civilians, one child, two police officers and completely destroyed the establishment. No group claimed responsibility but authorities believe the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC were responsible.
Overview
GTD ID:
200907210029
When:
2009-07-21
Country:
Colombia
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Cauca
City:
Corinto
Location Details:
The attack took place in a commercial establishment in the municipality of Corinto, in the northern area of the Department of Cauca, Colombia.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Police |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
Civilians at a commercial establishment |
Nationality of Target |
Colombia |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
A grenade and unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The summary of this incident was based on an article originally written in Spanish. Doubt terrorism proper was selected for this attack because police and civilians were targeted in the attack. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
50 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities / 20 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
20 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
Unknown |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Colombian National Army, "FARC Murdered Three People at Bakery," http://www.ejercito.mil.co./index.php?idcategoria=229139 (July 27, 2009). |
El Tiempo,"Three Dead and 17 Wounded in Combats between the Army and the FARC in Corinto, Cauca," http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-5652367 (July 19, 2009). |
ejercito.mil.co (Colombian National Army), "FARC Murdered Three People with A Grenade Launched into a Bakery," LexisNexis Academic, July 22, 2009. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties