According to an official, the new wave of violence has left about 5,000 people displaced and another two dozen injured, calling the humanitarian scenario that has resulted “alarming.”
According to the governor of the impacted Norte de Santander department, the number of casualties from the National Liberation Army’s (ELN) brutal attack on opponents and civilians in northeast Colombia has increased to 80 in less than three days.
Governor William Villamizar said on Sunday that “it is estimated that more than 80 people have lost their lives” in the ELN attack that was carried out last Thursday in the Catatumbo region against civilians and FARC dissidents who continued to fight after the group disarmed in 2017.
An estimated 60 persons, including seven former FARC fighters, were killed in five municipalities in the hilly cocaine-producing area close to the Venezuelan border on Saturday.
About 5,000 people have been displaced and about two dozen people have been hurt in the recent wave of violence, according to Villamizar, who called the humanitarian scenario that has resulted “alarming.”
Over 5,000 soldiers have been deployed to the area, according to the army, to “reinforce security.”
Terminate the talks
After more than 50 years of conflict, the FARC disarmed as part of a peace agreement in 2016.
However, in other parts of the country, the deal did not stop the fighting between drug cartels, right-wing paramilitaries, and leftist insurgents, including FARC holdouts, for resources and trafficking routes.
At least nine people have been killed in a different region of northern Colombia as a result of the ELN’s recent confrontation with the Gulf Clan, the greatest drug cartel and manufacturer of cocaine worldwide.
In an effort to achieve “total peace” for the nation, President Gustavo Petro on Friday canceled talks with the ELN in response to the most recent bloodshed.
