Incident Summary:
02/14/2003: At about 5:45AM local time, an explosion took place in the northern section of Neiva city, Huila Department, Colombia. The explosion took place in a house in the middle-class residential Villa Magdalena district, and Colombian police were searching the area for explosives and militants. The blast destroyed or damaged over 70 homes and buildings, left a 660-foot hole in the ground, and killed at between 17 and 18, and injured between 15 to 37 more, according to various reports. The search was conducted pending then-new President Alvaro Uribe's visit to the city on 02/15/2003, and his plane would fly over the residential area, which is next to the city's airport runway. Colombia's National Police Chief blamed FARC for the incident and speculated that FARC was plotting to strike President Uribe's aircraft as it landed or took off from Neiva's airport, because of the manner of setup and positioning of the explosives found.
Overview
GTD ID:
200302140001
When:
2003-02-14
Country:
Colombia
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Huila
City:
Neiva
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Government (General) |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Colombia President Alvaro Uribe |
| Specific Description |
Colombia President Uribe's plane in Neiva |
| Nationality of Target |
Colombia |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
| Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Explosives |
Unknown Explosive Type |
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 |
Neiva is about 250 miles south of Colombia's capital Bogota. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
18 Fatalities / 37 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
18 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
Unknown |
| Total Number of Injured |
37 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
Unknown |
Sources
Sources
| "Colombia: Explosion in Neiva Claims 6 Lives, Injures 15," Caracol Colombia Radio (WWW-Text), February 14, 2003. |
| Isabel Sanchez, "Rebel bomb kills 18 in southwestern Colombia ahead of president's visit," AFP, February 15, 2003. |
| Michael Easterbrook, "Authorities search for Americans allegedly abducted by Colombian rebels," AP, February 15, 2003. |
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
Back to Search Results