Colombia announced on Saturday that it had intensified its military offensive in the Catatumbo region (north-east), on the border with Venezuela, where ELN guerrillas are confronting FARC dissidents and attacking civilians.
The death toll from recent clashes has risen to “around” 60 deaths, the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office announced on Saturday. “Around 60 people died violently in Convencion, Abrego, Teorama, El Tarra, Hacari and Tibu”, in the Catatumbo region, the Office of the Ombudsman said on X.
“Right now the situation is very critical in this region of the country,” said army commander General Luis Emilio Cardozo, addressing troops deploying in the Catatumbo mountains, ravaged by crops of drugs and historically dominated by insurgents.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Friday that he was suspending peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army (ELN). This guerrilla has been involved in the deaths of nearly 40 people since Thursday, according to the authorities.
Recalling the worst hours of the armed conflict in Colombia, ELN guerrillas attacked the civilian population on Thursday and confronted dissidents of the former guerrilla group of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Catatumbo, official sources reported.
There was a “breakdown, let’s say, of this alliance” between the ELN and dissidents of the defunct FARC guerrillas, which “had a very significant impact on the civilian population,” General Cardozo said in a statement. video broadcast by the army on X.
-“They took people out of their homes and killed them in a miserable way, violating human rights. It is up to us, as a national army, to stabilize the territory,” he added.
The new chapter of violence in the region has resulted in the displacement of more than 2,500 people to the town of Tibu, its mayor, Richar Claro, said on Saturday.
On Friday, security forces announced the deployment of 300 additional agents “to put an end to clashes” between illegal groups. Villagers were even evacuated by helicopter and “displaced people continue to arrive in the various concentration points” of disaster victims, a military source told AFP.
The Venezuelan government also announced on Saturday “a special operation to help the displaced civilian population of Colombia, who are forced to escape the terrible armed violence that has hit them,” according to an official statement. The plan was implemented in three border municipalities in the northwest of the country.
