SOUTHWEST COLOMBIA — Authorities in southwest Colombia were on high alert Saturday after a spate of explosive attacks and thwarted attempts to target public infrastructure. No one was injured in the assaults.

One assault included a shooting at a police station in the rural area of Jamundi. In a separate incident, attackers targeted a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo, where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones. On Friday, two vehicles rigged with explosives detonated near military units in Cali and Palmira, causing material damage.

Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez led a delegation that included regional governors and local authorities, meeting in Palmira to address the situation. "These criminals seek to instill fear, but we will respond with firmness," Sánchez said.

Valle del Cauca Governor Francisca Toro called on the national government to reinforce public security forces, enhance intelligence operations and take decisive actions against crime in the face of what she described as a terrorist-level escalation.

The government blamed the attacks on the Jaime Martínez faction, a dissident group of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia operating in the region. The faction did not adhere to the peace accord signed with the state in 2016.

The government is offering a reward of over one million dollars for information leading to the capture of "Marlon," identified as the leader of the dissident group in that region. Local authorities offered more than $14,000 for information leading to the identification and location of those responsible for the attacks in Cali and Palmira.

The region of southwest Colombia is contested by illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking. According to authorities, Cauca and Valle del Cauca serve as critical hubs for illicit activities of illegal armed groups, which are vying for control over maritime and riverine access routes to the port of Buenaventura, a transit point used to traffic drugs to Central America and Europe.