authorities on Friday reported that at least 39 people have been killed in violence involving a guerilla group near the Colombia-Venezuela border.
The violence has prompted President Gustavo Petro to suspend peace talks with the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN).
“The dialogue process with this group is suspended, the ELN has no will for peace,” Petro wrote on X on Friday, calling what the group did “war crimes.”
What do we know about the violence?
ELN fighters attacked dissident members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in several villages and farms in the Catatumbo region in the North Santander department.
More than 30 people were killed with over 20 injured, according to Norte de Santander governor William Villamizar.
The Colombian government said at least five of those killed were demobilized former FARC rebels who
In another incident, nine people died in violence involving ELN fighters and the Clan del Golfo, the country’s main criminal gang, in the nearby Bolivar department.
Stalled peace talks
The peace process between the Colombian government and the ELN, , has been plagued by setbacks.
In September last year, following an attack on a military base that left two soldiers dead and more than two dozen injured.
The violence is a challenge for Petro, , and his flagship security policy of “total peace.”
His strategy has looked to remove the ELN from its role in the country’s six-decadeslong internal armed conflict.
ess/sms (Reuters, AFP, EFE)
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