The Colombian government on Friday blamed leftist ELN rebels for the car bomb that killed 21 people at a Bogota police cadet training academy.

A police officer hugs his relatives who have arrived at the scene after the explosion occurred outside the General Santander police academy in Bogota, Colombia on January 17, 2019. (Photos: VCG)

Defense Minister Guillermo Botero, speaking from the presidential palace, described the Thursday bombing as "a terrorist attack committed by the ELN." 

Peace talks with the National Liberation Army, Colombia's last major rebel group, broke down in 2018 under the former president Juan Manuel Santos.

Cover image: A police officer and two women wipe their tears close to the scene where a car bomb exploded, according to authorities, in Bogota, Colombia January 17, 2019.