At least 80 people killed in northeast Colombia as ELN peace talks fail | Armed Groups News

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 later failed attempts to hold peace talks with the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN), an official said.

The ELN launched an assault in the northeastern region of Catatumbo last Thursday on the rival group composed of ex-members of the now deceased FARC armed group which continued to fight after disarmament in 2017.

Civilians were trapped in the middle, and as of Sunday, it was estimated that “more than 80 people have lost their lives,” said Governor William Villamizar of the northern department of Santander that includes Catatumbo.

The last balance on Saturday was estimated at 60 people, including seven former fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), in five municipalities of the mountainous region that produces cocaine near the border with Venezuela.

Among the victims are the leader of the community Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who tried to sign a peace agreement, according to a report that a government ombudsman agency published late Saturday.

Thousands of people are fleeing the area, some hiding in the 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 described the resulting humanitarian situation as “alarming.”

“Catatumbo needs help,” Villamizar said in a public address on Saturday.

“Boys, girls, young people, teenagers, entire families show up with nothing, riding trucks, dumpers, motorcycles, everything they can, on foot, so as not to be victims of this encounter.”

The army said more than 5,000 soldiers had been sent to the region to “enhance security”.

Army Commander General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaria said on Saturday that authorities have reinforced a humanitarian corridor between Tibu and Cucuta for the safe passage of those forced to flee their homes. He said that 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 agreement reached after more than half a century of war.

However, the pact failed to quell violence involving leftist groups, including the FARC, right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels over resources and trafficking routes in some regions of the country.

The ELN has accused ex-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 was no other way of confrontation than an armed confrontation.”

The ELN has also clashed in recent days with the Gulf Clan, the largest drug cartel in the world’s largest producer of cocaine, leaving at least nine dead in another part of Northern Colombia.

The latest violence prompted President Gustavo Petro on Friday to cancel negotiations with the ELN in his quest for “total peace” for the violence-riddled country.