4 Police Die in Columbia: Disarming Bomb

In Bogota, Columbia on Saturday, four police officers and a civilian were killed as officers as a powerful bomb that they were transporting exploded. The bomb was allegedly planted by leftist rebels as part of an attempt to kill a city mayor, according to authorities, as reported to Associated Press.

Mayor Ciela Gonzalez was at the radio station giving her weekly speech on Thursday, when a car bomb exploded, nearly claiming her life Thursday,s blast injured eight people and destroyed cars and a bus in the area.

The police were searching the area for other explosives early on Saturday, when they found the explosive in a meter. The explosive was found by police officers before dawn on Saturday. The bomb was hidden in a water meter in front of a radio station. A car bomb went off on Thursday in front of the same station. Thursday's explosion nearly claimed the life for the pro-government mayor of Neiva, Cielo Gonzalez.

Police removed the bomb from the meter and were transporting it away, in a police vehicle. The bomb exploded in downtown Neive, killing four officers. Gen. Jorge Castro, chief of Colombia's police told Caracole Radio. Among the dead was Captain Carlos Cardona, local head of the Sijin Police Intelligence unit.

A civilian was also killed in the explosion. The civilian was a woman who was inside her home.

Gen. Castro said that the device was part of Thursday's failed attack against Gonzalez by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The Revolutionary Armed Forces are Latin America's oldest and most potent leftist insurgency.

Thursday's explosion occurred while police were towing a car that had been parked in front of the HJKK radio station, where Gonzalez was giving his regular weekly interview. The car thy were towing was loaded with explosives. The blast injured eight people. A bus and several card were destroyed.

Located near the heart of Colombia's impoverished south, Neiva has been engulfed by violence. Gonzalez has been targeted by assassination attempts since 2003.

Gonzalez said that she would reinforce her security and stay in Neiva, in spite of an offer from Uribe to relocate her office to Bogota.