BOGOTA, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Eight people, including a 2-year-old child, were killed Wednesday when a bomb strapped to a horse exploded in a market in northeastern Colombia.
The BBC reports that 15 others were injured in the blast in the town of Chita, 150 miles northeast of Colombia's capital, Bogota.
Many residents had crowded into the area in preparation for the town's weekly market, army spokesman Sergeant Luis Hernandez told the BBC.
Colombian authorities blamed the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, for the attack.
The rebels have used bombs strapped to donkeys and horses in past attacks.
The FARC and a smaller leftist rebel army have been waging war on the Colombian government for nearly 40 years and on average 3,500 civilians caught in the crossfire have been killed each year.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the army have recently launched an offensive against the rebels -- backed by $3 billion of U.S. aid.
