60 people killed in Colombia drug gang violence
The death toll from attacks by a rebel group in Colombia’s Catatumbo region has risen to 60, the country’s human rights office said.
Rival gangs have been competing for years for control of the cocaine trade in the region – which is located near the border with Venezuela.
The ombudsman’s office said the latest violence involved the National Liberation Army (ELN) – the largest armed group still active in Colombia – and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which signed a peace treaty with the state in 2016.
The attacks broke an uneasy truce between guerrilla groups that had been in peace talks with the government.
The Office of the Ombudsman, the government agency that oversees the protection of citizens’ human and civil rights, previously reported that 40 people had been killed in the violence.
It said many people, including community leaders and their families, faced “particular risk” of being abducted or killed at the hands of the ELN. It said 20 people were recently kidnapped, half of whom were women.
The office said those killed included seven peace treaty signatories and Carmelo Guerrero, leader of the Peasant Solidarity Association in Catatumbo (Assuncat), a local advocacy group.
Assuncat wrote on social media on Friday that its board of directors members Roger Quintero and Freeman Velasquez had not been seen since the previous day, and that it suspected armed groups had taken them.
“Food shortages have begun to be reported in some communities in the region, which is impacting local communities,” the ombudsman’s office wrote in a statement Saturday. It said thousands of people are believed to have been displaced by the violence.
“The elderly, children, teenagers, pregnant women and people with disabilities are suffering the consequences of these incidents.”
“Catatumbo is once again stained with blood,” the Association of Mothers of Catatumbo for Peace wrote on Friday.
“The exchange of gunfire has not only hurt those who have weapons, but has also shattered the dreams of our communities, torn families apart and instilled terror in the minds of our children.”
The ombudsman’s office appears to be blaming the latest violence on the ELN, which was in peace talks with the Colombian government until they were suspended on Friday due to violence in Catatumbo.
President Gustavo Petro – who has sought to end violence between armed groups in the country since his election in 2022 – accused the ELN of “war crimes” and said the group “shows no desire to make peace.” Is”.
In a statement on Saturday, the ELN accused the FARC of starting the conflict by killing civilians, according to Reuters news agency. FARC has not publicly responded to the allegation.
On Saturday, the Colombian army announced it was sending additional troops to the area in an effort to restore peace.
