By EFE,
Bogota: Rebels blew up an electric substation in the southern Colombian province of Putumayo, leaving five towns without power, officials of the power company said.
The rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked the substation around 2.50 a.m. Thursday in Puerto Caicedo, assistant manager of the power company, Harold Vallejo, said.
The substation provides electricity to some 21,000 residents and the oil wells in the area, he said.
The towns of Puerto Caicedo, Puerto Asis, Orito, Valle del Guamuez and San Miguel were left without power after the attack.
The official, however, did not mention when the electricity was restored.
“Much of the equipment that was destroyed must be imported,” Vallejo said. This was the second attack on this substation in the past four years.
He said the company had recently repaired the substation at a cost of two billion pesos (about $1 million).
The FARC, founded in 1964, is Colombia’s oldest and largest leftist guerrilla group.