Second explosion in a week targets bank in Peru’s capital as crime and extortion surge

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A powerful explosion on Sunday caused damage at a branch of a Mexican-owned bank located on the periphery of Peru’s capital, police said. No victims were reported.

The attack with explosives is the second one targeting the bank in under a week and comes as crime surges in the South American country. Early Friday morning, another explosion at a different Compartamos bank branch destroyed an ATM and damaged part of a nearby bridge.

Banks are closed on Sundays in Peru and local television footage showed cleanup crews collecting broken glass, removing aluminum doors and placing black plastic over the branch’s facade. Two ATMs were damaged.

The motive for the attacks was not immediately clear, and Compartamos said in a press release that police and the bank were investigating both explosions. But police say there has been a wave of attacks targeting businesses linked to an increase in extortion.

Reports of extortion in Peru jumped to 15,989 between January and July 2025, a 28% increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to official data.

There are daily reports of explosions at homes, on public buses, at restaurants, daycare centers and schools. In January, explosives detonated at the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the northwestern La Libertad region.

Compartamos Bank – whose parent company is the Mexican group Gentera, with operations in Mexico and Guatemala – confirmed the material damage in a brief statement. It said it is working with the police on the investigation and will not make further comments for now.

Compartamos has over 1 million local clients and specializes in microfinance, according to company data. It operates more than 100 branches across almost all of Peru.