Deadly Colombian explosion caused by bomb, not gas leak

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian authorities said Saturday that a deadly explosion in an upscale Bogota neighborhood -- initially blamed on a gas explosion -- was caused by a bomb.

The explosion Thursday inside La Churreria restaurant killed one woman and injured 10 people who were eating lunch, said Sgt. Alberto Cantillo, a spokesman for the Bogota Metropolitan Police.

Authorities initially said the explosion was caused when a gas container was accidentally ignited.

However, investigators later revealed the blast was the result of a 44-pound bomb placed inside a bathroom in the restaurant and detonated during lunch hour.

, said Carolina Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

Sanchez said it wasn't clear who planted the device or why.

But since peace talks collapsed in February, fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, have been blamed for a series of kidnappings and bombings in urban centers.

Colombia's cities were once largely unaffected by the conflict, which has for years been fought in the countryside.

Leftist rebels have been fighting the government and a right-wing paramilitary army for 38-years in Colombia. The civil conflict kills thousands of people every year.

The country's president-elect, Alvaro Uribe, has promised to strengthen Colombia's armed forces and seek more aid from the United States in an attempt to crush the rebels. His term begins in August.

Also Saturday, the nation's leading newspaper reported that Colombian authorities dismissed 30 military members for allegedly torturing and killing two people.

The inspector general's office fired 20 soldiers and banned 10 retired soldiers from returning to the armed forces for the deaths of Norbey Idarraga and Manuel Lopera, according to Saturday's El Tiempo newspaper.

The two victims, whose ages were unclear, were walking along a road in Antioquia province in March, 1997 when they were killed, according to the newspaper.

Officials from the inspector general's office, which was closed Saturday, couldn't be reached for comment.