At least 80 killed in northeast Colombia after ELN peace talks collapse | News about armed groups
Attacks by ELN rebel fighters in the Catatumbo region have forced thousands of people to flee the area.
More than 80 people were killed in just three days in northeastern Colombia failed attempts to hold peace talks with the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN), the official said.
The ELN launched an attack in the northeastern region of Catatumbo last Thursday rival group composed of former members of the now defunct armed group FARC who continued to fight after disarming in 2017.
Civilians were trapped in the middle, and by Sunday it was estimated that “more than 80 people had lost their lives,” said Governor William Villamizar of the Norte de Santander department that includes Catatumbo.
The last balance on Saturday was estimated at 60 people, including seven ex-combatants from Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in five municipalities of a mountain region where cocaine is produced near the border with Venezuela.
Among the victims were community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who were demanding the signing of a peace accord, according to a report released late Saturday by the government’s ombudsman agency.
Thousands of people are fleeing the area, with some hiding in nearby lush mountains or seeking help in government shelters.
Villamizar said about two dozen people were injured and about 5,000 displaced in the outbreak of violence, and he described the resulting humanitarian situation as “alarming.”
“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public address on Saturday.
“Boys, girls, young people, teenagers, whole families show up with nothing, driving trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot, to avoid being victims of this conflict.”
The army said more than 5,000 troops had been sent to the region to “enhance security”.
Army chief General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaria said Saturday that authorities are strengthening the humanitarian corridor between Tibu and Cucuta for the safe passage of those forced to flee their homes. He said special urban soldiers were also deployed in municipal capitals “where there are risks and a lot of fear”.
The FARC disarmed under a 2016 peace deal reached after more than half a century of war.
However, the pact has failed to quell violence involving leftist groups, including members of the FARC, right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels over resources and smuggling routes in some regions of the country.
The ELN has accused former FARC rebels of several killings in the area, including the killing of a couple and their nine-month-old baby on January 15.
In a statement on Saturday, the ELN said it had warned former FARC members that if they “continue to attack the population … there is no other way out but armed conflict.”
The ELN has also clashed with the Gulf Clan, the largest drug cartel in the world’s biggest cocaine producer, in recent days, leaving at least nine dead in another part of northern Colombia.
The latest violence prompted President Gustavo Petr on Friday to break off talks with the ELN in his quest for “complete peace” for the violence-ridden country.
