Rebel violence kills 60 in Catatumbo

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 factions have been fighting for control of the cocaine trade in the region – which lies near the border with Venezuela – for years.

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 deal with the country 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, a government agency that oversees the protection of citizens’ human and civil rights, said earlier that 40 had died in the violence.

It said many people, including community leaders and their families, faced a “special risk” of being abducted or killed at the hands of the ELN. It is noted that 20 people have been kidnapped recently, half of them women.

The office said seven signatories to the peace accord and Carmelo Guerrero, leader of the Catatumbo Rural Unity Association (Asuncat), a local advocacy group, were among those killed.

Asuncat wrote on social media on Friday that Roger Quintero and Freiman Velazquez, members of the board of directors, had not been seen since the previous day and that it suspected armed groups had kidnapped them.

“Food shortages are beginning to be reported in some communities in the region, affecting local communities,” the ombudsman’s office said in a statement on Saturday, adding that thousands of people were believed to have been displaced by the violence.

“Elderly people, children, adolescents, pregnant women and people with disabilities suffer the consequences of these events.

“Catatumbo is again stained with blood,” the Catatumbo Mothers for Peace Association wrote on Friday.

“Exchanged bullets not only hurt those who hold the guns, they tear apart the dreams of our communities, tear apart families and send terror into the ears of our children.

The ombudsman’s office appeared to blame the latest violence on the ELN, which had been in peace talks with the Colombian government until they were called off on Friday due to violence in Catatumbo.

President Gustavo Petro – who since his election in 2022 seeks to end violence between armed groups in the country – accused the ELN of “war crimes” and said the group “shows no desire for peace”.

The ELN accused the Farc of instigating the conflict by killing civilians in a statement on Saturday, according to Reuters. Farc has not publicly responded to the allegations.

On Saturday, the Colombian army announced it was sending additional troops to the region in an effort to restore peace.