The violence of armed groups is once again tragically striking Colombia. Clashes between a dissident faction of the FARC guerrillas and another armed group have left 18 people dead in the south-west of the country, near the border with Ecuador, the Colombian Ombudsman announced on Sunday.
On Saturday, “18 men were killed in a confrontation between the self-proclaimed ‘Comandos de la Frontera’ and the ‘Carolina Ramírez’ first front of FARC dissidents”, according to a bulletin published by the public human rights watchdog, without specify whether they are civilian or military victims. The clashes erupted in a rural area of the municipality of Puerto Guzmán, some 60 kilometers from the Ecuadorian border. The Ombudsman further requested “the presence of the security forces and the public prosecutor in the area”.
Peace talks
The “Carolina Ramirez” front belongs to the largest faction that withdrew from the peace pact that disarmed the FARC in 2017, according to local press. The organization had contact with representatives of President Gustavo Petro as part of a preliminary phase to peace talks and had announced that it would reduce attacks on security forces in order to reach a ceasefire. bilateral fire in Colombia.
The “Comandos de la Frontera” are an armed group that controls the drug trafficking routes in the jungle on the border with Ecuador.