Incident Summary:
11/24/2010: On Wednesday evening at 2000, in the rural area of La Hormiga, Valle del Guamuez, Putumayo, Colombia, militants detonated an unspecified amount of dynamite against the Transandino oil pipeline at kilometer 2. Although the attack resulted in no casualties, the oil pipeline sustained significant property damage from a fire that broke out after the explosion. Flames reaching up to 20 meters in height continued to flare through the next day on Thursday 11/25/2010. Furthermore, a large oil spill subsequently leaked into the Valle del Guamuez river, resulting in significant contamination to the public water supply of surrounding localities. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities suspected the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was responsible.
Overview
GTD ID:
201011240007
When:
2010-11-24
Country:
Colombia
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Putumayo
City:
Near Valle del Guamuez
Location Details:
At the Transandino oil pipeline at kilometer 2 in the rural area of La Hormiga, Valle del Guamuez, Putumayo, Colombia.
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Utilities |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Transandino |
| Specific Description |
The Transandino oil pipeline on kilometer 2 |
| Nationality of Target |
Colombia |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Dynamite/TNT |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| An unspecified amount of dynamite was 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 articles originally written in Spanish. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Caracol Colombia Radio, "Police Discover FARC Cache with 200 Kilos of ANFO," Caracol Colombia Radio, November 26, 2010, http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=1390766. |
| Pedro Salamanca, "Oil Spill Has Contaminated La Hormiga River," Diario Del Sur, November 29, 2010, http://www.diariodelsur.com.co/nvodiariodelsur/portal/paginas/vernoticia.php?id_noticia=7968. |
| My Putumayo, Miguel Ángel Lucero Bastida, "Hormiga River Contaminated from Oil Spill as a Result of Attack on Oil Pipeline," http://miputumayo.com.co/2010/11/26/contaminado-con-petroleo-crudo-el-rio-la-hormiga-un-atentado-al-oleoducto-origina-la-tragedia/ (November 26, 2010). |
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
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