At least 80 people killed in northeast Colombia as ELN peace talks fail

An official reported that after unsuccessful negotiations with the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN), more than 80 people have died in northeast Colombia in just three days.

Last Thursday, the ELN launched an assault on a rival group made up of former FARC members who continued to fight after it disarmed in 2017.

More than 80 people had lost their lives, according to Governor William Villamizar of the Norte de Santander department, which includes Catatumbo, and were trapped among civilians in the middle by Sunday.

In five municipalities in the mountainous cocaine-producing region close to Venezuela’s border, seven former FARC fighters were reportedly killed in the last toll on Saturday, according to estimates of 60 people.

Community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven other people who sought to sign a peace agreement are among the victims, according to a report that a government ombudsman agency made public late on Saturday.

Many people are hiding in the nearby lush mountains or seeking assistance at government shelters as they flee the area.

In the outbreak of violence, Villamizar claimed that about a dozen people had been injured and about 5,000 had been displaced, and he also described the humanitarian situation as “alarming.”

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

“Boys, girls, young people, teenagers, entire families are showing up with nothing, riding trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot, to avoid being victims of this confrontation”.

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

Authorities are strengthening a humanitarian corridor between Tibu and Cucuta, according to Army commander General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaria, who said on Saturday that they were ensuring that those who were forced to leave their homes are safe. Special urban soldiers were also dispatched to “risky and a lot of fear” municipal capitals, he claimed.

Following more than 50 years of conflict, the FARC was finally disarmed under a peace agreement in 2016.

However, the pact failed to stop violence involving leftist groups like FARC holdouts, right-wing paramilitaries, and drug cartels over resources and trafficking routes in some areas of the nation.

The ELN has accused ex-FARC rebels of several killings in the area, including the January 15 slaying of a couple and their nine-month-old baby.

The ELN claimed in a statement on Saturday that there was only one option for armed conflict if former FARC members continued to attack the population.

At least nine people have died in a different region of northern Colombia as a result of clashes between the ELN and the Gulf Clan, the largest drug cartel in the world’s largest producer of cocaine.